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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Cliap. Copyright No 

^ t~29X 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE AMBASSADOR 



" The earth ! where is my earth ? Let me look on it 

For I was made of it." 
" The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it hath dust of 
gold." 

[First produced at the St. James's Theatre, London, on 
June 2, iSgS.I 



THE AMBASSADOR 

A COMEDY IN FOUR ACTS / 



BY 



JOHN OLIVER HOBBES 



« 



NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 






18ol'7 



Copyright, 1S9S, 
By Frederick A. Stokes Company. 



AU rights reserved. 



?I^0 COPIES RECElVti). 




Snsi Copy 



189'^ 



^« 



SSnibcrsttg ^^rtss: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



« 



PREFACE 

Once I found a speech in prose — prose so subtly 
balanced, harmonious, and interesting that it seemed, 
on paper, a song. But no actor or actress, though 
they spoke with the voice of angels, could make it, on 
the stage, even tolerable. It was too long in one bar, 
and too short in another; it dragged, it jumped, it 
vexed the ear and stilled the brain ; common rant 
would have been more vivacious : a column recited 
from the dictionary could not have been so dull. 
Yet the speech is nevertheless fine stuff: it is never- 
theless interesting in substance : it has imagination : 
it has charm. What, then, was lacking ? Emotion 
in the tone^ and, on the part of the writer, considera- 
tion for the speaking voice. Stage dialogue may 
have or may not have many qualities, but it must be 
emotional. It rests primarily on feeling. Wit, phi- 
losophy, moral truths, poetic language — all these 
count as nothing unless there is feeling of an obvious, 
ordinary kind. Great passions and the " enormous " 
are, on the other hand, beyond spectacular representa- 
tion. Love is probably the sole great passion which 



vi PREFACE 

an audience of average men and women can endure 
for more than one act and to a tragic issue. Large 
exhibitions of ambition, jealousy, avarice, revenge, 
pride, fear, and the like, please but few minds. The 
more emotions conveyed, or hinted at, the better, no 
doubt, yet not one of them, with the solitary excep- 
tion already named, should be raised unduly to the 
depression of the others. The theatre is a place of 
relaxation. When the majority of pleasure-seekers 
find a piece tedious, it is a failure beyond question as 
a play. When the majority find a piece agreeable to 
their taste, it must have fulfilled, at all events, one 
vital condition of its existence as a piece. It is at 
least an entertainment. The vulgar, much-abused 
popular melodrama has this unfailing characteristic — 
it will hold, in the face of every aesthetic objection, 
your cheerful attention. 

In a comedy, life must be presented in a deliber- 
ately artificial way — that is to say, presented under 
strictly artificial conditions. No one, for instance, 
in looking at a portrait is asked to mistake it for a 
wax model or a real personage. In admiring a 
twelve-inch landscape we do not blame the artist 
because we are unable to scamper, in reality, over his 
fields or pluck the lilacs in his garden. We go to 
him neither for a deception nor an imitation — but 



PREFACE vii 

for an idea, an illustration, or a statement. Play-writing 
and novel-writing may be compared in more senses 
than one to the art of landscape painting. To see 
the sun set once is not enough, to see once the tide 
come in is not enough, to have risen once, in the 
country, to watch the dawn of day is not enough. 
One must be so intimate with Nature that one could 
not — even if one tried — present her, or any aspect 
of her, conventionally. One knows nothing unless 
one knows her infinite variety. Describe humbly 
what you see, and you cannot go wrong ; describe 
what others have been taught to see, and you can 
never, by any possibility, be right. The instinct of 
a close student of life is always to reject the 
plausible. It is by this ready acceptance of the 
plausible that human beings are so often, and 
unnecessary, disillusioned. No two creatures are 
precisely, or even within any real degree of approx- 
imation, the same : each soul has its own individuality. 
There may be schools of people just as there are 
schools of thought, but Types — the typical stage 
diplomatist, the typical young girl, the typical widow, 
the typical stage foreigner, the Type, in fact, of any 
sort — are not to be found in Almighty God's creation 
or man's society. They are nothing in the world, 
and there is no speculation in their eyes. 



viii PREFACE 

Let me beg that the persons in The Ambassador be 
judged by their actions and not by the hasty estimates 
passed upon them either by themselves or the other 
characters in the comedy. 

My permanent gratitude and friendship are due to 
Mr. George Alexander for the distinguished art he 
bestowed upon his rendering of the title-role, for the 
support, interest, and kindness he gave so generously 
from the first reading of the play, through the many 
anxieties of rehearsing, through the yet greater anxiety 
of its first production. 



PERSONS OF THE PLAY 

9 

Lord St. Orbyn, British Ambassador at Madrid. 

Sir William Beauvedere, Second Attache to the British 

Embassy at Berlin. 

Vivian Beauvedere, his step-brother. 

Major Hugo Lascelles. 

Sir Charles de Lorme, G. C.S.I. 

Lord Lavensthorpe. 

Lady Beauvedere, step-mother to Sir William Beauvedere. 

Juliet Gainsborough, an orphan. 

Alice Gainsborough, her sister, a nun. 

Lady Gwendolene Marleaze. 

The Princess Vendramini. 

The Duchess of Hampshire. 

Lady Basler. 

Lady Ullweather. 

Lady Vanringham. 

Mrs. Dasney. 

Mrs. Whitcomb J. Taylorson. 

Miss Katie Taylorson 'i , , , , . j • r> a 
- - ,, .„ f her daughters, studying Grand 

Miss Yolande Taylorson > „ • t> • 
n/r A* T- I Opera m Fans. 

Miss Mamie Taylorson J ^ 

Mrs. Spearing, Lady Beauvedere's housekeeper. 

Tomkins, a housemaid. 

Rorter ) r ^ 

T > tootmen. 

Jenkins ^ 

Duval, Lascelles' manservant. 

TOTO. 

Lord Reggie. 



Act I. — At Lady Beawuedere" s residence in the Champs ElyseeSy 
Paris. 

Four days elapse. 

Act II. — Conser^vatory at Lady Beawvedere" s. Thursday 
morning. 

Act III. — At Major Lascelles"" residence in the Champs Elysies. 
Same morning. 

Act IV. — Garden at Lady Beawvedere's. Same morning. 



THE AMBASSADOR 

THE FIRST ACT 

Scene: At Lady Beawvedere' s in the Champs Elysees, Paris. 
Time: About half-past tijoo in the afternoon. A room lux- 
uriously furnished , style Louis Seize. Here and there a 
modern piece of furniture, ^antities of roses, tables co'v- 
ered <with books, photographs, 'vases, objets d''art. Cards 
on table R. Fancy nvork. Photo on piano. Nenvspapers 
up c. A marble bust of Sir William Beauvedere be- 
tiJjeen the tivo ivindoivs (^at side). A large conser'vatory 
at back. A piano, sofa, nvriting-table and chairs. As 
curtain rises, Juliet Gainsborough, a pretty girl about 
eighteen, ivell, but not gaudily-dressed, and Alice Gains- 
borough, a Nun, e'vidently some years her senior, are talk- 
ing earnestly together on a sofa. 

ALICE (with anxiety^. 

Dearest Juliet, you have not yet told me why you 
accepted Sir William. 



2 I'HK AMBASSADOR [Act I 

JULIET. 

(JFho is opening letters atui throiving them aside.") 

Why? Because I wanted ti) be luanicd, and wear 
a black velvet dinnci-gown with a long diamond chain. 
. . . "Severe simplicity," as Mi's. Dasney would say, 
"and twenty thousand pound dangling from my 
neck ! " 

ALICE {distressed). 

Fancy marrying for such a reason ! 

JULIET. 

Lots of girls do ! 

ALICE. 

But you would n't. 

JULIET. 

Oh, well ! 1 hope to make Bill happy. • . . {Rising 
and going up to hust.) . . . Alice, do you think he looks 
like a " Bill " ? (Points to bust.) He ought to be a 
polvsyilable ! {After a pause.) Yes, I want to make 
him happy. {All through this scene she is evidently luhur- 
ing under despair and an assumption of cynicism.) 

ALICE. 

And your own happiness? 



Scene iJ 11 fK AMHASSADOR 3 

JULIET. 

That will come, I 'm w) grateful to him, 

ALICE. 

What has he done? 

JULIET. 

He gives me his love, his name, his career, his home, 
his fortune. . . . 

AJ.JCfc, 

And why should n't he ? 

JULIET. 

Lw^k at me ! 1 'm a girl without a penny, with- 
out influence, without a single great relative ! 

ALICE. 

Grandpapa is a duke, 

JULIET. 

But he's only a duke because one of our ancestors 
in the eleventh century fought for God and his King! 
No one cares for that sort of thing now. Grandpapa 
is neither rich nor new ; he hates p<^litics ; he won't 
even be a guinea-pig ! He 's just a fussy old coun- 
try gentleman with a large family and a few rents. 
He's nobody ! 



4 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ALICE. 

Oh, Juliet ! how you have changed since you came 
out ! 

JULIET. 

{^Stifling a sob.^ 

No, dear ; I haven't changed. But, from the Con- 
vent window we used to watch the sea. And the sea 
— no matter how rough it may be — always reflects 
the sky. Now, I have left school. ... I am watch- 
ing the earth and that . . . (Crosses to R. c.) 

ALICE. 

Well? . . . 

( 

JULIET. 

That, so far, seems to reflect . . . the other place ! 
(Covers her face with her hands.) Oh, I am disillu- 
sioned ! 

ALICE. 

Ah, no ! (Rises.) Disillusions all come from within 
. . . from the failure of some dear and secret hope. 
The world makes no promises ; we only dream it 
does; and when we wake, we cry! ... Is Lady 
Beauvedere kind to you ? (Puts letters on piano.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 5 

JULIET. 

All kindness. She gave mc this frock; her maid 
does my hair; her newest genius is painting my por- 
trait; her dearest friends will soon be mine. But . . . 

ALICE. 

What ? 

JULIET. 

In her soul she cannot bear me. 

ALICE {moving towards Juliet^ 
Juliet ! 

JULIET. 

She thinks I am mercenary — I am not. She thinks 
I am frivolous — I am not. She thinks me vain, heart- 
less, selfish — I am not. ... I am not ! (tS'^^ bursts 
into tears.) 

ALICE (^seating herself). 

She cannot be so unjust! Consider — she has in- 
vited you here to this beautiful place. 

JULIET. 

It is n't hers. It all belongs to Bill. That 's why 
I feel an intruder. I am turning her out of her own 
home. As though I wanted it ! I 'd rather be a spar- 
row alone on a housetop than lead the life of these 
women of the world! 



6 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ALICE. 

Are you so miserable ? 

JULIET. 

Can't you see that I am utterly wretched ? 

ALICE. 

Juliet, do you ... do you love him ? 

JULIET. 

No ! no ! no ! I don't. But what shall I do ? He 
has been so good to me. I must love him in time. 
. . . Yet, that 's not all. . . . There 's more. 

ALICE. 

What else ? 

JULIET. 

There is a girl . . . who does love him. 

ALICE. 

Who 's that ? 

JULIET. 

Gwen Marleaze. I have j'ust made this discovery. 
She 's not kind ; she 's proud, suspicious and cold ; 
she's cruel, she's worldly, but . . . she loves him. 
She would sell her soul for him. She 's suffering . . . 
she 's breaking her heart . . . she 's dying, I believe, 
of love. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 7 

ALICE. 

Poor girl ! 

JULIET. 

Then what ... is to be done ? 

ALICE (rising^. 

Dearest, this engagement must be broken off. Mis- 
ery . . . piercing misery will come of it. You will re- 
pent it — Oh, with what anguish ! what desolation 
of heart ! 

JULIET. 

Of course ! Who ever heard of a pleasant, easy, 
enjoyable repentance ! 

ALICE. 

Where is Sir William now ? 

JULIET. 

At Berlin. 

ALICE. 

Then write to him. Write to him now, and let 
me post the letter. Tell him, that in your attempt 
to make him happy, you have made two people miser- 
able already, and the third will be himself! Tell him 
it is impossible, and again impossible, and yet again, 
impossible ! 



8 THE AMBASSADOR . [Act I 

JULIET {with a cry of relief \ 
Oh, Alice, that is just what I have been writing to 
him. 

ALICE. 

You don't mean it ? 

JULIET {drawing letter from pocket^ 

See, I wrote this this morning. {Gives letter to 

Alice.) I dare n't tell you at first, till I knew what 

you thought. {IVith emotion.) I felt such a burden at 

home, and I knew it was my duty to feel grateful for 

Sir William's kindness ! But I can't marry him — I 

cannot ! 

(Enter Jenkins.) 

JENKINS. 

The carriage is at the door, miss. 

^Exit Jenkins. 

JULIET. 

I 'II come at once. ( Takes letter from Alice.) We 
can post this as we pass. {Looking at calendar^ This 
is Saturday. There is time — he will receive it {seal- 
ing and stamping the letter) before he leaves Berlin on 
Tuesday morning for the ball. 

ALICE. 

What ball? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 9 

JULIET. 

The ball on Lady Beauvedere's birthday. (^Rises.) 
She 's only thirty-five ; that is n't much, and then, 
she 's beautiful. 

ALICE, 

Perhaps she will marry again. 

JULIET. 

I have heard that she is very fond of Lord St. Orbyn. 

ALICE. 

How do they know ? 

JULIET. 

Because Mrs. Dasney says that he always tells 
people, when her name is mentioned, that he is n't a 
marrying man ! But come, we shall be late. 

ALICE. 

We can post the letter together, and then . . . (half 
smiling and looking round the rooni) . . . mind, it means 
you renounce all this — all diamonds and all black 
velvet. 



10 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

JULIET (^passionately). 

I would n't take a whole city of such houses for 
even the least of the dreams I brought with me and 
lost here ! 

ALICE {going to JULIET). 

The dreams will all come back again ! 

JULIET. 

Do you think so ? 

ALICE. 

I know it. Come ! 

[^Exeunt^ as Mrs. Spearing, the housekeeper^ followed by 
RoRTER and ToMKiNS, with a number ofjlower vases 
on a tray^ enter. 

MRS. SPEARING (tO RORTER). 

Put the marguerites on that table. {Points to c. table.) 
Put that on the mantelpiece (Rorter puts marguerites 
on c. table and other flowers on mantelpiece) — the poppies 
on the piano (Tomkins puts poppies on piano) and the 
lilies on the writing-table. {Standing R. c, to Rorter.) 
Look at that chair ! 

RORTER. 

I am looking. 

MRS. SPEARING. 

What 's the matter with it ? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR ii 

RORTER {after a pause). 
One of us must be squinting ! 

MRS. SPEARING. 

O, Rorter ! Go to the liberry and bring up Sir 

Charles de Lorme's " History of Asia " — it is his day 

for calling. 

\^Exit RoRTER. 

{To TOMKINS.) 

Why, bless my soul {looking on writing-table for 
photograph)^ where is Lord St. Orbyn's photigraph ? 
and him expected down every moment ? There 's 
management ! 

TOMKINS {looking on piano). 
Here 'e is — be'ind the vase. 

MRS. SPEARING {taking photograph). 

Now, there 's a man I could take to. Cold, 'aughty, 
you-kcep-your-place-and-I '11-keep-mine ; that 's the 
style ! That 's a man to make 'ome happy. {Hands 
it to ToMKiNS.) Don't put it on the writing-table — 
that's most conspicuous and indelicate ! The pianner's 
the right place. Where are them cards ? Ah, here 
they are. Her ladyship 's wonderful fond of a game 
of Patience lately. It 's so soothing when you 're 



12 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

sitting with a sword, so to speak, over your head ! 
(^Looks about the room.) . . . And, oh, my goodness ! 
Tomkins! 

TOMKINS. 

Yes, Mrs. Spearing ? 

MRS, SPEARING. 

Who 's been and dusted half the marble off Sir 
Williamses' bust ? 

TOMKINS. 

It 's Lady Gwendolene. Come in when I will she 
is a-dusting of it fit to break her 'eart ! 

MRS. SPEARING. 

Poor young lady ! 

TOMKINS {putting things straight on piano'). 
And 'as Sir William really be'aved so 'eartless to 
her, Mrs. Spearing ? 
{Re-enter RoRTER zf/VZ> book., and ^'' The Upper Ten.") 

RORTER (who has evidently been listening at the door). 
Something shameful ! 

MRS. SPEARING. 

(Taking book from him and putting it on table.) 
Hold your tongue ! What do you know about it ? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 13 

RORTER. 

You can read it for yourself in The Upper Ten. 
(ToMKlNS looks at paper over Rorter's shoulder.) 
'Ere 's the column. "Things we should like to know." 
(Reads.") " What will become of a certain peer's 
daughter now that a certain Bart, has engaged himself 
to the penniless Miss What 's-her-name? " I call that 
pretty straight ! 

MRS. SPEARING. 

I would n't read such low stuff*. (/Approaching them.') 
Let me see it with my own eyes. Be off^, — both of 
you ! 

[^Exeunt RoRTER and Tomkins. 

MRS. SPEARING [seating herself). 
" A much-talked-of match is not finding favour in 
the right quarters. It seems an occasion for half- 
mourning." There's impudence and rtf^;V^//V/«/ "Lady 
Beauvedere is receiving congratulations on her step- 
son's engagement to Miss Juliet Gainsborough." Ah, 
poor thing, she is indeed ! 

(^Enter Vivian Beauvedere, a precocious^ delicate-look- 
ing hoy^ about eighteen., through the conservatory.) 

VIVIAN. 

Oh, Speary, I am so depressed ! {^Opens piano.) 



14 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

MRS. SPEARING (^rising). 

For pity's sake, Master Vivie, don't you go and fall 
in love too, and make us all unhappy ! 

VIVIAN (^turning over music). 

There 's no danger. I see too much of women 
and their little ways. That 's one advantage, after all, 
in being too delicate to go to school or Oxford. [Be- 
gins to play a valse.) 

MRS. SPEARING. 

I do hope that nice tune will liven up her poor 
ladyship. {Goes out wiping her eyes.) 

(Js Vivian /•/d'jy. Lady Beauvedere, a very handsome^ 
young-looking woman., about thirty-Jive^ enters., followed 
by Lady Gwendolene, a girl about twenty-two., very 
intense., silent and languishing.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

(Crossing to Vivian, and placing her hands on his 
shoulder.) 

Darling boy, my mind is crowded with painful 
thoughts, yet, when you play, I can forget them all. 
You are my comfort. Never, never disappoint me. 
I could not bear it. (IVipes her eyes.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 15 

VIVIAN. 

(^Rising from piano and arranging the cushions for her on 
the sofa where Lady Beauvedere now sits.) 
Why do you say that ? It almost implies a doubt. 
You ought to feel sure of me. 

gwendolene. 
(Who has seated hersef at fancy-work y mournfully.) 

Disappointments — like fate and love — will not 
bear to be too much talked about. 

VIVIAN (walking about). 

Oh ! I am so depressed. I do wish you would all 

smile again just as you used before Bill's engagement. 

(Lady Gwendolene stifes a sob^ rises suddenly, and 

leaves the room.) 

lady beauvedere (looking after her). 
Poor sweet girl ! Her eyes were full of tears. Did 
you notice how pale she grew just at the mention of 
Bill's name ? And yet your brother can forsake a 
heart like that for the sake of a little serpent in 
dove's feathers. 

VIVIAN. 

Oh, hang it all ! A fellow can't marry every girl 
who gets pale eveiy time his name is mentioned. 
There would simply be no end to it. 



i6 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

{^Enter Jenkins, bearing a salver of letters.^ 
Ah, the post ! (Jenkins puts letters on writing-table.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{To Vivian.) One moment. {To Jenkins.) Is 
Lord St. Orbyn still in his room, Jenkins? 

JENKINS. 

Yes, my lady. His lordship is still dressing, my 
lady. His lordship's servant led me to suppose that 
his lordship would not be down for a couple of hours. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

That will do. [^Exit Jenkins. 

VIVIAN {turning over the letters). 
What a heap ! {Seats himself.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Covering her eyes with her handkerchief) 
Read them for me; my head is too bad. 

VIVIAN {opening the letters and reading). 
The Savignys accept. . . . The de Traceys are in 
mourning. . . . Lady Agnes and her bony girls. Soames 
hopes to find time. . . . What an ass! . . . {Opens let- 
ter containing cheque ; looks at Lady Beauvedere, and 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 17 

quietly places cheque in pocket.) . . . {After a pause.) 
Mama ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {with her eyes still covered). 
Yes, dear. 

VIVIAN. 

May I send a card to Hugo Lascelles? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {with energy). 

No ! I have told you that I refuse to know him 
— a gambler — a horrid wretch who lives on other 
men's losses! 

VIVIAN. 

How ridiculous! We all do that — more or less ! 
He is a high-minded fellow as ever got up a baccarat 
table. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Baccarat ! 

VIVIAN. 

Well, you can't expect me to sit playing loto with 
old Spearie in the housekeeper's room at my age ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Major Lascelles is so shocking that he can even 
say witty things about his own bad character. 



1 8 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 



VIVIAN. 

You think all the world of St. Orbyn, yet St. Orbyn 
is one of his greatest friends. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Lord St. Orbyn has a great official position, and 
he has to know many odd characters — for various 
reasons. One attends an Ambassador's parties as one 
goes to church — one has to rub shoulders with all 
sorts of people and be civil, after a fashion, to all 
of 'em. 

VIVIAN. 

But . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Not another word. ... 

{Enter Jenkins.) 

JENKINS. 

Lady Easier. 
{Enter hf^UY BASLER^/ashionabiy dressed. ExitjESKitiS.) 

LADY BASLER. 

{Crossing the room and sitting on sofa near Lady Beau- 
VEDERE, who makes but a feeble attempt to rise. She 
plays the invalid all through the following scene.') 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 19 

Dearest Geraldine ! Don't move. How are you ? 
I am dying to hear about the engagement. 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, that engagement ! 

LADY BASLER. 

Of course Bill is far too young — and fancy you 
a possible grandmother ! Dear Geraldine, how trying ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

In the first place, dear, a 5/^/)-grandmother, — it is 
not quite as though he were my own son, and then, 1 
married very young myself. 

LADY BASLER. 

But I want to know . . . 

{Enter Jenkins.) 

JENKINS. 

Mrs. Dasney. 

(Mrs. Dasney, in a very elaborate gown^ trips in. 
Exit Jenkins.) 



20 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

MRS. DASNEY. 

What luck ! I was afraid you would n't be at home. 
I have just been to such a smart funeral this morning. 
I had barely time to get back and change into this. 
Everybody was there. (Vivian places chair from piano 
for Mrs Dasney.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Whose funeral was it ? 

MRS. DASNEY {in a hushed voice). 
Poor Milly's. (Seats herself) I am so sorry you 
missed it. You would have enjoyed ... I mean, you 
would have been so interested. Now, you have your 
own excitement. Fancy that naughty boy getting en- 
gaged ! I hear that Miss Gainsborough is too pretty. 
What a mercy, dear, that she is n't third-rate ! 

LADY BASLER. 

Third-rate women always try to be second-rate ! 

MRS, DASNEY. 

And what is worse than a second-rate manquee .? 
(Lady Basler is crushed.) I suppose when Bill mar- 
ries you '11 have to give up all this ? {Looking round 
the room.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 21 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Of course, and go to my dower-house in Wiltshire, 
among the Moon-rakers ! 

LADY BASLER. 

I'm afraid I 'm rather out of this conversation. I '11 
move. (^Rises arid goes up R.) 

MRS. DASNEY {taking her place). 
Thanks so much. What I want to know is . . . 
{Enter Jenkins.) . 

JENKINS. 

Lady Vanringham. 

{Enter Lady Vanringham ; pretty., thin^ helpless. Exit 
Jenkins.) 

lady vanringham. 
Oh ... I was hoping you would be alone ... I 
mean . . . don't get up. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {pointing to chair by sofa). 
Dear Harriet, do take this chair ! So good of you. 

LADY VANRINGHAM {seating herself). 
Are you awfully upset ? 



22 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {wearily). 

Oh, no. Of course dear Bill is very young, but I 
married very young myself. . . . 

LADY VANRINGHAM. 

If they love each other what does it matter ? The 
great thing is the girl. Is she a nice girl ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, charming. 

LADY BASLER. 

Where 's her photo, G. ? 

VIVIAN, 

Bill has taken them all away with him to Berlin. 

LADY BASLER. 

How sweet of him ! But I 'm rather sorry that the 
poor girl is n't plain. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Why? 

LADY BASLER. 

Because a plain woman can defy the three cruellest 
enemies of her sex — Time, Sorrow — and Men's 
Fickleness ! 

MRS. DASNEY. 

You 've forgotten the fourth — the worst of the lot. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 23 

LADY VANRINGHAM. 

What 's that ? 

MRS. DASNEY. 

The jealousy of rivals ! 

(Enter Jenkins.) 

JENKINS (announcing^ 
Sir Charles de Lorme. 
(Enter Sir Charles de Lorme. Exit Jenkins.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

(Rising and shaking hands with SiR Charles.) 
Dear Sir Charles, this is too nice. 
(Mrs. Dasney moves up on sofa till she is R. of Lady 
Vanringham ; Lady Basler sits l. of r. table. 
Vivian on stool below this table.) 

sir CHARLES (lugubriously). 
I have called to offer my congratulations. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Thanks so much. We are all so happy about the 
affair. Of course Bill is a little young, but I married 
very young myself, and it all seems so idyllic ! 



24 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

SIR CHARLES {relieved). 

Really now. I am delighted, simply delighted ! 
What a comfort that you are happy about it ! (Lady 
Beauvedere sits on sofa where Mrs. Dasney sat 
before.) 

MRS. dasney. 

She is not rich, but she is quite lovely, and he is very 
fond of her. 

LADY VANRINGHAM {with sentiment). 

And if the young people love each other, what does 
it matter ? 

SIR CHARLES. 

It seems an ideal match in every respect. {Seats 
himself) Miss Gainsborough is Bill's equal in birth, 
his superior in beauty, his junior in years. An ideal 
match ! 

LADY VANRINGHAM. 

Who brought them together, dear? 

LADY beauvedere. 

The Duchess of Hampshire. 

MRS. DASNEY. 

She is so tactless. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 25 

LADY BASLER. 

Not at all. I believe she does it on purpose. She 
has a mania for marrying ofF poor orphans. I often 
wish my girls were orphans. They 'd do so much 
better. 

MRS. DASNEY. 

I believe men like orphans . . . there 's no mother- 
in-law. But I must be going. Goodbye, dear. (^Crosses 
the room^ pauses^ then returns to Sir Charles, c.) Oh, 
Sir Charles, do let me drop you somewhere. 

sir CHARLES. 

{A little embarrassed^ but not displeased!) 
That 's very sweet of you, but . . . 

MRS. DASNEY. 

No, I insist ! you know I never see you. (Sir 
Charles tries not to look astonished at this remark.) You 
need a blow in the Bois. And we can see the blossoms 
in bloom. Really ! my life is such a whirl, that I 'm 
a stranger — a perfect stranger — to the real pleasures 
of existence. {^Puts one hand on his arm as if to keep 

him quiet.) 

lady basler. 

But you do so much, don't you ? 



26 THE AMBASSADOR [Act 1 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (jmiling^ to save the situation^. 
And does it all so beautifully ! 

MRS. DASNEY {ciu'ickly). 

My husband is very hospitable ; of course, enter- 
tainment for entertainment's sake is the most expen- 
sive form of death, and perhaps — {hesitating). 

LADY BASLER. 

Vulgar ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

(Rising and addressing Mrs. Dasney.) 
Do come to lunch on Saturday. 

MRS. DASNEY. 

Awfully sorry — can't. In the morning I have the 
Armenian Massacres Committee, and in the afternoon 
I must decide on my gown for the Glossop Fancy 
Ball, and I lunch with ... let me think — who do I 
lunch with? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

What a bore ! Come Sunday. 

MRS. DASNEY. 

Delighted. 



Scene i] THE AiMBASSADOR ^^ 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Bring your husband. 

MRS. DASNEY. 

Oh, no ; ask him when you don't ask me. We 
are so dull together. Goodbye. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {tO SIR CHARLES). 

Dine with us on Sunday ? 



SIR CHARLES. 

MRS. DASNEY. 



Charmed. 

Sir Charles. 

SIR CHARLES. 

Charmed. {Follows Mrs. Dasney out of the room.) 

LADY VANRINGHAM. 

I must go too. Goodbye. But I am sorry to see 
you looking so poorly. But if the young people love 
each other, what does it matter ! It will be all right ; 
don't worry. {Advancing and addressing Lady Bas- 
ler.) Goodbye, Edith. I 'm sure we all married for 
love. Even Dolly Dasney married for love ; and 
there 's nothing the matter with us ... we are happy 

enough. Goodbye. 

\_Exit^ followed by Vivian. 



28 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BASLER {looking after her). 
Poor Harriet ! she 's dear, but such a bore ; and that 
dreadful Dasney woman ! How she docs chase after 
Sir Charles de Lorme ! I call her such a bounder ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {crossing to table). 
But she can make anything " go " . . . that 's a 
rest! Everybody knows her — all Society. . . . 

LADY BASLER {sneering a little). 
Represented by the Duchess of Hampshire ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

All Propriety ? 

LADY BASLER. 

Represented by yourself! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {smiling a little). 
And all Impropriety ? 

LADY BASLER. 

My dear ! Now you have stumped me ! {After a 
pause.) Well, darling, has St. Orbyn arrived ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes, he arrived last night. I have not seen him 
yet. It was so late. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 29 

LADY BASLER. 

What a pity it is, dear, that St. Orbyn is not a 
marrying man ! What a comfort he would have been 
to you . . . now that Bill is settling in Hfe ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, my dear ! St. Orbyn and I are such friends 
as we are, that the idea of marrying him would seem 
almost . . . almost a pity. 

LADY BASLER. 

All the same he would have married you sixteen 
years ago ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

How can you say that — when you know my heart 
was buried with dear Basil ? 

LADY BASLER. 

That, my dear, was a case of premature burial ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

What do you mean ? 

LADY BASLER. 

Just what I say. St. Orbyn was dying to marry you 
sixteen years ago, when you were a widow of nineteen ! 



30 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes ... I was very young. 

LADY BASLER. 

And now, of course, Gerry dear, you are still young 
— in a way — but ten to one now St. Orbyn don't 
keep you for a friend because you are amusin', and 
marry some little noodle — because she 's so fresh ! 
That 's the world ! That 's men ! Take the case of 
Monty. How did Monty treat me ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

That 's a certain type of man. St. Orbyn is quite 
different ! 

LADY BASLER. 

They 're all different, dear (rises and crosses to Lady 
Beauvedere), till it comes to a question of marriage, 
and then they 're all the same ! But I must be going. 
Goodbye, pet. Don't come. I shall meet Vivie on 
the stairs. 

Lady Basler goes out. Lady Beauvedere moves to 
piano and looks at St. Orhyn's photography then sits 
down and sings — 

" Le doux printemps a bu dans le creux de sa main 
Le premier pleur qu'au bois laissa tomber I'aurore ; 
Vous aimerez demain, vous qui n'aimiez encore, 
Et vous qui n'aimiez plus, vous aimerez demain ! " 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 31 

ST. ORBYN. 

{Heard outside.) Is Lady Beauvedere in the draw- 
ing-room? (Lady Beauvedere rises and crosses to r.) 
I will join her at once. What delicious roses ! May 
1 steal one I 

LADY GWENDOLENE {appearing in doorway). 
Pray do. {She disappears again.) 
(St. Orbyn enters through the conservatory. He is a 
distinguished.^ rather blase-looking man of about forty- 
five.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

My dear Geraldine, what a pleasure this is ! {kisses 
her hand) I thought you so sensible not to sit up for 
me last night. My train arrived at the most uncivil 
hour. Ah, to get away from my work, and to come 
here to you — the enchantress — the irresistible! I 
am a boy in my happiness — a boy ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {sitting). 

Dear Bertie, I am too happy to see you. To think 
that a whole year has passed since our last meeting ! 

ST. ORBYN {lightly). 
What is a year ? A little hunting, a little shooting, 
a little dancing, a little dining, a little racing, a little 



32 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

losing, a little cursing, a little yawning, a little flirt- 
ing, and — a little repenting ! Why, a year is no 
more than a well-ordered day ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Can you keep a secret ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Give me several, and then, thank God ! one will 
help me to keep the others ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Well, let me tell you this, the days seem long — 
only when I neither see nor hear from you ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

What charming things you say ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

That 's because I 'm in practice. 

ST. ORBYN. 

How so ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I have just seen a lot of women callers. In a 
minute I shall sing " God save the Queen ! " (rising). 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 33 



ST. ORBYN. 

What a mood is this ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (reseating herself y 
Oh, don't you know that every dinner, every lunch, 
every call where women meet is a field of Waterloo ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Napoleon and Wellington settled their battle once 
and for ever, but women . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well . . . ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Waterloo begins, for a woman, from the moment 
she disappoints her mother by not being a boy, and it 
ends — only when her dearest friend drops a wreath 
on her coffin. {Wipes her eyes.) 

ST. ORBYN {approaching her\ 
Dearest G., what 's the matter ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Edith Easier is a cat, and yet she was my brides- 
maid. But they are all horrid ! 

3 



34 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST. ORBYN {watching her intently^. 
What about ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

About Bill's engagement. 

ST. ORBYN. 

But I hear Miss Gainsborough is a delightful 
creature. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Ah, some woman told you that ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Several women have told me so. Some of 'em, 
too, had daughters of their own ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Spiteful things ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, isn't Miss Gainsborough a delightful creature .? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes, but they need n't go about telling everybody, 
as though I were the only one who didn^t think so! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Whereas I gather you are really in the best of spirits 
over the affair ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 35 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Well, I do like her — in a way — but dear Bertie, 
she has faults. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Faults I I adore faults ! I can never find too many 
in any creature. And I 'm sure a man without faults 
never yet pleased the women ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Ah, now we are coming to the point. That 's my 
worry. 

ST. ORBYN. 

What ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Bill is SO good, and such a dear in every way. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

While the little Gainsborough has perhaps a failing 
or two. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {eagerly). 
Ah, then you have heard of some. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not at all. A mere guess on my part. I hear 
her praises sung in every quarter. Really, G., you 
ought to be delighted. 



36 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I am ... I am . . . ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

The girl is pretty, her father was a distinguished 
soldier, her mother died before she could become 
distinguished. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Ah, then you have heard . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

What? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

The Story about her mother. You cannot deceive 
me. You have heard the story. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I have nothing to tell you^ but you have everything to 
tell me. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I could tell you a good deal . . . my heart is too 
full to go on. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I am an old friend — you can cry before me ! Be- 
sides, I always think a woman is all the prettier for 
crying. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 37 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {absently). 
Juliet's mother was a fool ! Every one says so. 

ST. ORBYN. 

No — no. There is only one fool in the whole of 
creation — and that is — an unmarried man! (Lady 
Beauvedere gives him a quick glance.^ Why do I keep 
single ? Perhaps I love too many women too well — 
or, possibly, too many too little ! 

lady beauvedere. 
I wish you would be serious. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Believe me, I was never more serious. 

lady BEAUVEDERE. 

I feel a strong temptation to tell you the whole story 
from beginning to end. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

I do not see any reason why you should resist that 
temptation. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You would think me ill-natured. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Never. 



38 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes, you would. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Have your own way. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You are so provoking to-day that ... I forget 
half the things I wanted to speak of. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Then tell me how Bill speaks of his intended. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

He speaks of her as all young men going to be mar- 
ried do speak of thtir fiancees. One would think he 
had secured an angel of a girl ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, and has n't he ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Of course not. He is infatuated. Juliet is not the 

wife for a young man in official life. Bill needs some 

plain, earnest girl who would devote herself solely to 
his interests. 

ST. ORBYN. 

One, in fact, who would please the women by boring 
all the men ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 39 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 



Well, that is not a bad sort of wife for a young 
fellow with a career before him. 

ST. ORBYN. 

The Powers of Europe are getting sick of these 
devoted wives who think that governments can be 
dissolved by inviting the right people to a dinner, or 
the wrong people to a crush ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I know you are thinking of Sarah Hampshire ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

No, I ain't. But, all the same, there is a tremen- 
dous demand now for simpletons — old school — white 
muslin — rose behind the ear — a bit of black velvet 
ribbon round the throat — nice throat — no past, no 
future — and Heaven our home ! Bless 'em ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I should like to see you with a wife like that ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

How I should worship her ! 



40 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You know you like witty women. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I love 'em, the darlings ! but not to marry. Why, 
I 'm a wit myself, or used to be ! Imagine it ! Two 
wits with but a single epigram — two jokes that pass 
tor one! Good Lord! (^Rises and crosses the rooni.^ 
Let us talk about Bill. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {rising). 

I want him to be happy. . . . 

ST. ORBYN {drily'). 
Quite so ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

My fear is — that Juliet does not love the poor 
boy. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, that's cynical! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I ask you, Bertie, would a pretty, young, lively girl 
care naturally for poor darling Bill ? {Points to bust.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 4^ 

ST. ORBYN. 

Is that considered a good likeness? I have not 
seen him lately. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

If it were Vivian I could understand it, but . . . 
Bill is . . . not taking, in fact, he's stodgy ! {Crosses 
to R. and turns to him with a sentimental air.) Gw^en 
Marleaze has loved him ever since they played together 

as children. 

ST. ORBYN {approaching her). 

There 's nothing like force of habit in these things ! 
I knew a man who hated his wife when he married 
her, and after twenty-five years of wrangling, he would 
not have given her for Venus ! That 's a true story ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {sitting OH StOol). 

But do you think dear Gwen is interesting enough 
to quarrel with .? 

ST. ORBYN. 

No ... I shouldn't call her a first-class fighting 
woman — and fighting certainly does appeal to the 
old Viking spirit of the Anglo-Saxon ! {Seating him- 
self.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

That's all very well, but this gives me no comfort 
about Juliet. 



42 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST, ORBYN. 

You are vexed because I have not attacked her. 
Remember, I have not yet laid eyes upon the poor 
thing. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

She is very deep — quite impenetrable. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Nevertheless, I may not condemn a girl I have 
never met, because her mother — whom I never knew 
— nearly ran away with a man — I never saw ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Nearly ran away ! Why, every one knows that if 
she had n't been thrown from her horse and killed 
that very morning — on her way to meet him . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

I never attend post-mortems on a conscience ! 

{Enter Gwendolene. St. Orbyn rises and crosses 
room; Lady Beauvedere approaches St. Orbyn.) 

gwendolene. 
Dear Lady Beauvedere, the doctor is here. {Jd- 
vances to a sofa.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 43 

ST. ORBYN. 

Go at once, Geraldine. Don't let me keep you. 
I have one or two letters to write. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {^preparing a seat at the table). 
Write them here — at my table. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I make it a rule never to write letters at another 
person's desk. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 



What a fancy ! Why not ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, once, when I was younger and more expe- 
rienced than I am now, I was staying in the country 
with Lord Glevering when he was Foreign Secretary. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Dear Lord Glevering ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

I sat at his table by his own invitation, and I wrote 
my letters. It happened, however, that without per- 
ceiving my mistake, I whipped up some of his private 



44 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

papers which happened to be on the desk. He sought 
them high and low, the servants were questioned, the 
guests were perplexed. Four days after I found them 
in my own portfolio ! 

(GwENDOLENE, during this speech^ moves down the room 
with " The Upper Ten " paper^ and sits on sofa.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

How awkward ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ingenuously, I returned them — with my explana- 
tion ! To this day I do not know what the documents 
were, but I am tolerably convinced that, also to this 
day, his Lordship thinks I did a very neat thing in a 
confoundedly impudent way ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (laughing). 

After this I must insist on your using the table. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, if you insist, I must obey, but — I have a 
presentiment — a strong presentiment — that history 
may repeat itself. 

(He crosses to door., to open it for Lady Beauvedere, 
who goes out. Me returns to the writing-table^ without 
perceiving Gwendolene, who is reading the paper.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 45 

GWENDOLENE (reading aloud to herself). 

"A marriage is arranged and will shortly take place 
between Sir William Beauvedere, Baronet, and Juliet, 
youngest daughter of the late Colonel Gainsborough 
and the late Lady Georgina Gainsborough. All friends 
will join in wishing the young diplomatist and his 
beautiful young bride "... {She bursts into tears.) 
Oh, I cannot wish them happiness — I cannot! 

ST. ORBYN {dropping his pen). 

What is that ? Is she crying ? {Advances towards 
her.) My dear child, do you often cry ? 

GWENDOLENE {apparently confused). 

Oh, no ... I am so sorry ... it is nothing . . . 
really, nothing. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I knew it was nothing. I said to myself — why 
should she cry ? A charming young girl with pretty 
eyes, devoted friends, and {pointing to a brooch she luears) 
even the moon — set in diamonds. 

GWENDOLENE. 

That was a present from Bill — on my coming of 
age. I always wear it. 



46 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST. ORBYN. 

He must feel flattered. 

GWENDOLENE. 

I don't think he notices it. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Leave it ofF for a few days . . . and try the rogue 
— I know these puppies. 

GWENDOLENE. 

I am sure he would n't notice it. He is so ab- 
sorbed in Miss Gainsborough. Have you met her yet? 

ST. ORBYN. 

I have not yet had that pleasure. When does she 
come back from her drive ? 

GWENDOLENE. 

She went out with her sister. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Has she got a sister ? 

GWENDOLENE. 

Oh, yes, her sister, the Nun. It is so droll to think 
that Juliet's own sister should have chosen a life of 
piety and sick nursing. 



Scene i] THK AMBASSADOR 47 

ST. ORHYN. 
Why droll ? 

CWI'NDOI.KNE. 

Juliet is SO ditt'crciit. 

ST. ORHYN. 

And isn't she also a great deal younger.? 

GWENDOLKNi:. 

True, and perhaps the elder sister wanted to clear 
the way for Juliet ! I heard that Colonel (jainsborough 
could not artbrd to give both his daughters a dowry — 
it was small enough, goodness knows ! for one, so 
Alice, being the plainer of the two, became a Nun. 
But people say such horrid things, don't they ? 

ST. ORHYN. 

They do. 

GWENDOLKNi:. 

But I am interrupting your letters. . . . 



ST. ORHYN. 



Not at all, but I asked Vivian to come to my room 
for a chat. . . . Remember my advice about the 
brooch, and, when the puppy comes back . . . don^t 
wear it. 



48 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

GWENDOLENE. 

I won't forget. 
(St. Orbyn goes out through conservatory. Gwendo- 
LENE approaches bust, and is looking at it when Juliet 
enters and, without perceiving Gwendolene, runs 
across the room, opens window and waves her handker- 
chief, laughing loudly.) 

JULIET. 

{^Speaking from window to some one outside.) 
Ah, you are first, after all ! But that is as it should 
be. Thanks so much. I am all right. I am so 
grateful. . . . Nonsense! How very absurd ! How 
can you ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

Juliet ! 

JULIET. 

It is too amusing. I met Major Lascelles j'ust as 
I was getting out of the carriage. It seems he lives 
over the way . . . that is his window. . . . {IFaving 
again.) 

GWENDOLENE. 

Major Lascelles ! That dreadful man ! 

JULIET. 

What do you mean? He isn't dreadful. He's 
charming! He is one of papa's best friends. I have 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 49 

known him all my life and am devoted to him. (IFaves 
agahi^ kisses her hand^ and closes the window.^ 
{^The two girls look at each other defiantly . Gwen- 
dolen E is standing by the writing-table. In her agi- 
tation she turns over a pack of cards. They all fall to 
the floor). 

JULIET {springing forward). 

Don't touch them. I '11 tell your fortune. {She 
stoops and turns them over.) I see good news. 

GWENDOLEN !• {bitterly). 
For me? 

JULIET. 

A great surprise. 

GWENDOLENE. 

A sad one ? . . . 

JULIET. 

No ... a strange one. And look . . . there 's hope. 

GWENDOLENE. 

Where ? 

JULIET. 

From the poor two of spades ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

That's the most trumpery card in the pack! 
4 



50 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

JULIET. 

All the same, she brings hope. Oh, Gwen, I see 
a marriage. 

GWENDOLENE. 

That 's your own ! 

JULIET. 

No, not mine. 

GWENDOLENE. 

Whose marriage, then ? {Affecting not to care.) How 
silly ! 

JULIET. 

I think ... it must be yours ! 

GWENDOLENE {mechanically). 
How silly ! 

JULIET. 

And the man is thin . , . tall. . . . 

GWENDOLENE. 

Oh ! {Pretends indifference.) 

JULIET. 

And good-looking . . . rather solemn. . . . 

GWENDOLENE. 

What card is that ? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 51 

JULIET, 

Oh, that ... is n't on the card ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

You 're making it up ! 

JULIET. 

I 'm not. His hair is black; his eyes are dark; his 
nose is narrow ; his chin is firm ; he knows all the 
long words in every language ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

That's absurd. I don't know a man at all like 
that. . . . 

JULIET. 

One always marries the most unlikely person ! Now 
I must go . . . but, Gwen. . . . 

GWENDOLENE. 

What ? 

JULIET (tvhispers in her ear). 

You '11 see him perhaps at the ball ! {Picks up her 
parasol and runs out.) 



52 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

GWENDOLENE. 

{following Juliet «/>, stops ; then with sudden feelings 
to bust.') 
Oh, did you hear that ? Or, if you heard, would 
you care? {Hurls the cards at SiR William's bust.) 
Would you care ? 

{Js she throws the cards., enter Jenkins to announce the 
Princess Vendramini. He hesitates a moment. 
Enter the Princess Vendramini, a handsome ., worldly 
person., haughty in bearing., but zuell bred; emotional., 
rather affected; dressed in the height of fashion. She 
speaks with a slight Italian accent., expressing each syl- 
lable with care.) 

JENKINS {announcing). 

Madame the Princess Vendramini. 

(GwENDOLENE moves down L. c, looking away. Jen- 
kins takes books off table c, and lays tea-cloth. RoR- 
TER enters with tea-tray., which he puts on table C. 
Both men lift the table a little further down. Then 
exeunt.) 

VENDRAMINI. 

Mon ange ! 

GWENDOLENE {turning to the Princess). 
Oh, is that you. Princess ? {Advances in tears.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 53 

VENDRAMINI {kisshig her on both cheeks). 
How pale ! Did I startle you ? 

GWENDOLENE {laughs hysterically). 
I was losing my temper. I do sometimes. . . . 

VENDRAMINI. 

Incredible ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

I am but human. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Then why quarrel with Nature ? We live to love, 
to suffer, and to die ! 

GWENDOLENE (with passion). 

I think I shall die soon — because I cannot die ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

{^IVaving her hand indefinitely toward the bust.) 
Why don't you go away from these associations ? 

GWENDOLENE 

I am going — the day after the ball. I must see 
him once more — once more, at least ! 



54 THE AMBASSADOR [Act 1 

VENDRAMINI. 

Then when you meet him — show your spirit. Re- 
proach him, threaten him, sneer at him, laugh at him 
— exasperate him! 

GWENDOLENE. 

That is not Lord St. Orbyn's advice. 

VENDRAMINI {biting her lip). 
Ah, then he has arrived .? 

GWENDOLENE. 

Yes. And I believe that he is more fond of Lady 
Beauvedere than people think. I should n't wonder 
if, after all . . . 

VENDRAMINI (agitated). 

I say it is out of the question. He must n't marry 
Geraldine ... it would be — oh, the word — give 
me the word ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

Madness ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

No, sentimentality ! He may marry for hate, for 
money, for power, for independence, for despair, but 
never, never for sentimentality. I must stop this. 
{Rises and paces the room.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 55 

GWENDOLENE. 

How can you ? 

VENDRAMINI {agitated). 

We must distract him. Any woman rather than 
Geraldine — any woman ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

But why ? 

VENDRAMINI (returning to c). 

Because we have both known him for the same 
number of years ! 

GWENDOLENE {softly). 

Dear Princess ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

I am jealous. 

GWENDOLENS, 

I am SO sorry ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

I could bear that^ but she has not the kindness, the 
tact, the savoir faire and savoir vivre to show the 
smallest jealousy of fnef It is insulting! 

GWENDOLENE. 

That 's the hardest part ! 



56 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

VENDRAMINI. 

Naturally. Oh, if I could see her jealous ! Is there 
no one ? St. Orbyn is capricious, fastidious to a degree 
— past all calculations. 

GWENDOLENE. 

There is no one new or interesting here — except 
Juliet. 

VENDRAMINI (approaching to gwendolene). 

Of course ! But of course ! 'Juliet. An inspira- 
tion ! [Sinks into a reverie^ 

gwendolene {frightened). 
You won't do anything . . . anything ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Mon ange^ leave all to me. (Crosses to L. and pauses.) 
Shed no more tears and go. (Gwendolene hesitates.) 
Go. (Stamps her foot.) 

[^Exit Gwendolene. 

(The Princess laughs contemptuously^ then stands listen- 
ing as though for a footstep . She fu oves forward smiling 
as the door opens and St. Orbyn enters.) 

ST. ORBYN (astonished). 

My dear Princess ! I know now that prayers are 
answered ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 57 

VENDRAMINI. 

Why? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Are you not in Paris when I am in Paris ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

We both come, I fear, on the same mission ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Amazing creature ! Are you arranging another war ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

In a way — yes. I have come to offer my con- 
gratulations on a friend's engagement ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Oh, that marriage ! {She shakes her head.') What 
do you think ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Mon Dleu ! (Goes up to table and pours out tea.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, I feared you would take that view — but I like 
a man who makes a fool of himself about a woman. 
{-/Approaches the tea-table.) 

VENDRAMINI. 

How you must hate yourself! 



58 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Because you merely let women make fools of 
themselves about you ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, no, those days are over, dearest Princess. I 
had my faults, but now, in these matters, I am a child 
(Jye hands her tea) — any one could deceive me — even 
you. Try ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Oh no ! I loved you once, but never again ! It 
gave me three wrinkles, and no man on earth is worth 
even one. 

ST. ORBYN {piqued). 

Well, to flirt with spirit, one must be either too 
young to think or too wise to trust oneself to think. 

VENDRAMINI. 

I halt between the two conditions. I am not yet 
old, and not yet wholly wise. {Sits in chair next piano 
drinking tea.\ 

ST. ORBYN. 

Amazing creature ! Women should never be either 
old or wise. They were born to make men happy 
and each other jealous ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 59 

VENDRAMINI. 

{Handing him her cup^ which he places on tea-table.^ 
No. They were born to trust — and to be con- 
founded ! Will you never regard me seriously ? 

ST. ORBYN {putting his own cup on table). 
I can't. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Why not? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Because you make me sad, and I 'm only serious . . . 

VENDRAMINI {eagerly). 
When ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

When I'm joking. 

VENDRAMINI {agitated and rising). 
Oh, you only see me in my lighter moods, listen- 
ing to scandal, talking nonsense, grinning at this one's 
disappointment, sighing at that one's success, civil to 
men whom I distrust, distant to others I dare not — 
like! {Going up to him.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Who is the fortunate man who has aroused your 
discretion ? 



6o THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

VENDRAMINI. 

Cruel. . . . But we are forgetting our poor friends. 

ST. ORBYN. 

An unpremeditated kindness on my part, I assure 
you ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Do you know, I have a little plan by which we 
may help them. 

ST. ORBYN. 

As unscrupulous as ever. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Listen. This girl — Juliet Gainsborough — is 
young, impressionable, ambitious. It would not hurt 
you to distract her attention, and she — no wiser than 
the rest of her sex — would be dazzled. 

ST. ORBYN, 

Act I., she is dazzled — and now Act II. ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Hoping for a better match, she breaks off her en- 
gagement with dear Bill. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 6i 

ST. ORBYN. 

Act III. ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Well, you will be like the wise knight in the poem — 
" Adieu for evermore 
My Love ! 
And adieu for evermore ! " 

ST. ORBYN. 

Oh, I could n't find the heart to do it ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Heart is not required. You have done nothing 
else all your life ! 

ST. ORBYN (^stopping her). 
Do you defy me — do you dare me ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

I could never have believed you so backward in a 
little intrigue. 

ST. ORBYN {seized by the idea). 

Gad! I'll do it! 

VENDRAMINI. 

But what ? 



62 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST, ORBYN. 

If the girl 's not worldly, she will come out of the 
adventure with flying colours. Why, now I think of 
it, I may even render her a service by proving to you 
all that she is sincerely, deeply, wholly in love with 
that prodigious bore — her inestimable Intended! 

VENDRAMINI. 

But, if, on the other hand, she is worldly — as I 
think her. 

ST. ORBYN. 

In that case, we shall both know how to wish each 
other Goodbye. I shall press her hand. I shall say — 
" For the last time." . . . She will look at me. She 
will be clever enough to smile. I shall be clever 
enough to sigh. She will control a sob — I shall con- 
trol a grin ! I shall wish her — sincerely — every 
happiness. She will wish me — sincerely — to the 
devil ! And there, dearest lady, the matter will end. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Oh, the wickedness of men ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Oh, the perfidy of women ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 63 

VENDRAMINI. 

Albert. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes, Rosamund ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Has the wind ruffled my hair ? (St. Orbyn draws 
near and examines her face and coiffure very carefully but 
without emotion.^ Well ? 

ST. ORBYN {seriously). 
I think it's all right. (Turns away from her.) 

VENDRAMINI. 

Have I changed much since I was a girl ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not a bit. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Don't you think I 'm a good deal paler? 

ST. ORBYN. 

I hate a blowsy complexion. Yours was always 
delicate. 

VENDRAMINI {after a pause). 

Have n't you noticed that the expression of my 
mouth has altered ? Some people say it has grown 
severe ! 



64 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

ST. ORBYN. 

Let me see. No. I should never have dreamed 
of calling it severe. A shade malicious, perhaps. . . . 
{^Looks at it in silence?) 

VENDRAMINI (^petulantfy). 

Oh, Albert! you are too . . . (Crosses the room and 
meets Juliet, who enters with a telegram in her hand^ 
which she is reading evidently with much concern. She 
greets the Princess mechanically. St. Oreyn advances.) 

JULIET (crossing to the princess). 
How do you do. Princess ? Does Lady Beauvedere 
know that you are here ? (Going up to St. Orbyn.) 
This must be Lord St. Orbyn. I am Juliet Gains- 
borough. May I give you some tea ? 

ST. ORBYN (much struck). 
Thank you, I have had my tea. 

JULIET (looking at telegram). 

This is from Bill. (Crossing to table.) He has 
got his leave earlier than he expected. He is now on 
his way from Berlin to Paris. (Seems petrified with 
astonishment.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 65 

VENDRAMiNi {aside to ST. orbyn). 

What do you think of her? {^He is too absorbed to 
reply.) 

JULIET. 

I suppose Bill would not get any letter that was 
posted yesterday. 

VENDRAMINI. 

Of course not. But when he sees you he will not 
want letters. 

JULIET. 

But the letter would be forwarded ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Of course. 

JULIET (repeating). 

Oh, yes, . . . (Seats herself.) It will be forwarded. 
Will you excuse me for a moment ? I must send for 
my sister. (Writes^ 

ST. ORBYN (looking at JULIET). 

So that is Juliet ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Yes . . . are you disappointed ? 

ST. ORBYN (firmly but very quietly). 
Princess . . . 

5 



66 THE AMBASSADOR [Act I 

VENDRAMINI. 

Well ? 

ST. ORBYN (luith quiet force). 

If I should ever say anything to her ... if I should 
ever lead her to suppose that she was more to me 
than other women . . . {with a pause) ... I say 

VENDRAMINI. 

Yes? . . . Yes? 

ST. ORBYN {with point). 
If I said so — remember this : it would be in ear- 
nest. It would be for me — all the world to nothing. 
(i£«/V^/y) I say . . . {after a pause) ...if. 

JULIET {to herself). 
Of course it would be forwarded. 

VENDRAMINI {to ST. ORBYN). 

What is the matter ? Is this your first love ? 

ST. ORBYN {staring). 
No — my last ! 

End of First Act 



THE SECOND ACT 

Scene: The conser<vatory at Lady Beauvedere's. Dim lights. 
A fountain (jwith golJfish^ playing in the centre. Several 
couples in the conser^vatory. As curtain rises, 'valse music 
is heard. Some of the couples go back to the ball-room. Ball- 
room seen beyond. A small group of chaperons are near the 
front of the stage. Lady Beauvedere, beautifully dressed, 
'very elegant, adorned luith feiu pearls , &c., stands by foun- 
tain. The Duchess of Hampshire in tnau-ve brocade, 
lace lappets, diamonds, &c. ; Lady Basler, Lady Ull- 
weather, Mrs. Dasney, ivith an enormous tiara, 'very 
gorgeous, are seated on cane sofa arid rout seats. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Discovered L. c. ; then crossing in front of fountain?) 

I think, perhaps, we ought to go back to our posts. 
(Looks about her anxiously.^ 

LADY ULLWEATHER. 

(A languid.^ thin person tuith a draw I.) 
You will never spare yourself or others, Geraldine. 



68 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {vaguely). 

Do you know ... I am afraid ... I really must 
... if you don't mind. (iS"^*? goes out towards ball-room, 
peering about as if looking for some one.) 

LADY BASLER {tO LADY ULLWEATHER). 

Well, what do you think of the bride-elect ? 

LADY ULLWEATHER. 

I really forget. One meets so many women now- 
adays. 

DUCHESS {seated on a couch). 

Oh, how true that is ! If they 're dull, I call on 
'em during Lent ; if they 're pretty, I keep 'em for 
my parties at the end of the season ; if they 're rich, 
I 'm civil to 'em all the year round ; and if they 're 
clever, I avoid 'em like the plague! 

LADY BASLER. 

How well dear Gwen Marleaze is bearing the dis- 
appointment! I admire her so much. 

LADY ULLWEATHER. 

So do I. {Drowsily.) What with her long, long 
arms — some people admire an arm like a pipe-stem 
— her amazing corpse-like complexion, and her large, 
mysterious mouth, I think her quite too fascinating ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 69 

LADY BASLER. 

Oh, you wicked creature ! 

LADY ULLWEATHER. 

Wicked ? I assure you I admire her excessively. 
It is so difficult to describe a woman fairly. Words 
are so bald. By the bye, Edith, 1 did not see you at 
the Baron's wedding. 

LADY BASLER. 

I never go where I am not invited, but then / am 
peculiar. 

DUCHESS {very kindly). 

Not when one knows you, dear. 

LADY BASLER (after a pause). 

I cannot think why St. Orbyn does not settle down 
and marry poor old Rosamund Vendramini. Hers is 
a real affection. 

LADY VANRINGHAM. 

And if they love each other, what does it matter to 
anyho^y ? 

DUCHESS {to LADY BASLER). 

My dear Edith, men of St. Orbyn's turn of mind 
don't want affection, they want amusement. 



70 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

LADY HASI.ER. 

Then why on earth don't he marry Geraldine? 

MRS. DASNEY. 

Good Heavens ! Rosamund could n't stand that ! 
She sooner would send him after Juliet Gainsborough. 
(The Duchess looks at her; all stare at her for speak- 
ing — but she goes on undaunted.^ I wish he would fancy 
one of my poor sisters, but he won't (sighs) — he is 
too poetical. 

LADY BASLER. 

(Addressing Duchess and ignoring Mrs. Dasney.) 
But he is not a poet in any ordinary sense, dear 
Duchess. I mean to say, he would n't be called poetical 
in his tastes. I once spent a day in the country with 
three poets . . . real poets . , . professionals . . . you 
know the sort of thing? I have clean forgotten what 
they said^ but I know we had lumps of beef and 
dreadful pickles for supper ! 

DUCHESS. 

How unwholesome ! (To Mrs. Dasney, who has 
risen.) What's the matter? Are you leaving? 

MRS, DASNEY (crossing room). 
I *m rather tired. You see, I dined here ! ^Exlt. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 71 

DUCHESS. 

(Music stops. Looks at Lady Basler, sighs., then rises 
as though very tired.) 

I suppose wc must go. 
(Duchess ^0^5 up r. of fountain with Lady Vanring- 
HAM. Lady Ullweather and Lady Basler go 
up L. of fountain. Then all solemnly walk out abreast. 
Enter St. Orbyn and Juliet.) 

ST. orbyn. 
Stay a little longer. If this is Bill's dance, let him 
find you. 

JULIET. 

Yes. I wonder . . . {pauses) . . . Don't you think 
that letters which were sent to Berlin on Saturday 
and missed him ought to be here now? 

ST. orbyn. 
I should think so. Why ? {Jealously.) Are you 
still worrying about that letter ? 

JULIET {confused). 
Oh no, but — I wish he had it. 



72 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

ST. ORBYN. 

Don't let us think of Bill and his letters now. This 
is my hour. 

JULIET {as they stroll toward the fountain). 
It is certainly most pleasant here and cool . . . 

ST. ORBYN (looking at her). 
As an unplucked rose ! 

JULIET. 

I have been reading your poems. They are very 
pretty, but each one of your two hundred and fifty 
sonnets is dedicated to a different woman. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not at all. It is the same woman, but she has 
two hundred and fifty different moods ! 

JULIET. 

Was she pretty — and did you love her very much? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Inexpressibly ! 

JULIET. 

How unfortunate ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 73 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why? 

JULIET. 

Because, in that case, she could never know . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, she knows — she must know — she cannot 
doubt it. 

JULIET. 

How forward of her ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why forward ? 

JULIET. 

I think girls find it so hard, as a rule, to believe 
that they are really loved ... by the man they . . . 
might {meets his glance) . . . respect. 

ST. ORBYN. 

You guess then that she is a girl? 

JULIET. 

Oh no; I was merely speaking — as a girl — about 
girls — in the vaguest way {removing gloves). 

ST. ORBYN. 

Do you like goldfish ? 



74 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

JULIET. 

Yes, but I often wonder what they were made for ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why, to look pretty and slip through our fingers — 
as women do. 

JULIET. 

I am afraid you have a hard opinion of women. 

ST. ORBYN {after a pause). 
Yesterday, when 1 was returning from my ride in 
the Bois, I looked up and said — that is either her 
face or a lily in the window ! 

JULIET. 

I was only standing there scattering cake to the 
birds. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Happy birds to have the unhappy cake dropped by 
those beautiful hands ! 

JULIET. 

Perhaps it was a lily in the window ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

And that very lily, I swear, is the one thing on 
earth I ever loved, or could love — that I ever be- 
lieved in, or could believe in. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 75 

JULIET. 

So much feeling . . . just for a flower ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

How can I praise more plainly what I love so 
deeply — so desperately — so wrongly — and so 
rightly ? 

JULIET {surprised^ 

Wrongly i' 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes . . . because . . . because, having found this 
star of stars. But why should the star care for the 
moth ? 

JULIET. 

Is she a star now ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes . . . she is everything ! So, having found her, 
I propose to keep her against all comers — all pre- 
tended owners — against the whole world ! 

JULIET. 

I don't suppose . . . the flower ... I mean, the star 
... I mean, the girl . . . would mind . . . {^Moves 
down L., then turns towards St. Orbyn.) 



76 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

ST. ORBYN {^following her). 

Ah, Juliet, I must love you in any case . . . but, 
may I ? {She turns toward chair.) I wish ... I dare 
not say all I wish . . . yet, you will guess. This en- 
gagement to Bill is a mistake ... an error ... a 
crime ! You don't . . . you cannot love him. . . . 
{Watches her face.) 

JULIET {agitated). 

I think ... I don't wish to love any one. . . . Love 
makes me afraid. . . . Oh, I was happier before ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Before what ? 

JULIET. 

Before . . . when I was only wondering what it 
meant. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Do you know now ? 

JULIET. 

{Speaking rather to herself than to St. Orbyn). 
I . . . guess . . . and I say — no, no ! Let me 
be as I was. Let me dream — dreams were best. 

ST. ORBYN. 

All my life I have been waiting to meet you . . . 
looking out for you . . . hoping, despairing, and again 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 77 

hoping. At last you come, and not too late. You 
never shall belong to any one else ! (Taking her hand.) 
Juliet, would you mind if you did n't? 

JULIET. 

Your love is one of the things I w^ould most wish 
for . . . but these things never happen. (^Rises.) 

ST. ORBYN (following her). 

It has happened. I do love you. I have known 
you but five days, yet my destiny is in these little 
hands. {Kisses them.) 

JULIET. 

Only five days ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

And the whole world was made in six ! I recog- 
nised you at first sight. This, I said, is the one . . . 
(taking both her hands) . . . this is my future wife ! 

JULIET (withdrawing both her hands). 
Oh, wait — wait — are you in earnest ? 

ST. ORBYN (passionately). 
Cannot you see that I mean every word ? 



78 THE AMBASSADOR [Act 11 

JULIET. 

You may mean them — for the minute — but 1 
must remember them — for ever ! You see, there 's 
a difference ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

My dearest Heart ! I swear that my whole life 
depends now upon your answer. 

JULIET [taking and pressing his hand to her cheek). 

Oh, how happy I could be, if I might bcl {Holds 
his hand.) I shall think of you often — and that 
means — always ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

What is this .? Not tears ."•... Why tears .? 

JULIET. 

Ton must n't think of me. I am poor and unimpor- 
tant. I have no great relatives. The world would 
call it a wild marriage. The world would laugh at 
you and strike mc ! Oh, I have met the world so 
often during the last two weeks. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not the world — but his scarecrows! 

JULIET. 

Oh, I should be your stumbling-block! 



ScENK i] THE AMBASSADOR 79 

ST. ORHYN. 

My Stumbling-block ! You mean my crown — the 
prize of life ! These other notions are fancies. 

JULIET. 

They are not fancies. What did people think about 
my engagement to Sir William ? And they would say 
of you — St. Orbyn has married at last, — a little thing 
without a shilling; she's young and silly; she's a 
blight on his career ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Who cares ? Dearest, every man — even the most 
cynical — has one enthusiasm — he is earnest about 
some one thing; the all-round triflcr does not exist. 
If there is a skeleton — there is also an idol in the 
cupboard ! That idol may be ambition, love, re- 
venge, the turf, the table — but it is there. Now / 
am flippant. 

JULIET. 

Are you ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

At times. But, on my honour, I have it in me to 
be scorched, snubbed, and shelved for the sake of the 
woman I loved. (Rises.) As for the world — the 
less a man considers it, the better it will treat him. 



8o THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

That 's my experience. I will please it if possible, 
but my own heart at any rate ! 

JULIET. 

Oh, you speak like my dreams ! 

[Enter Sir William. He is pompous, well-bred, evi- 
dently good-natured, and self-satisjied.') 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Oh, there you are! {He shows no sort of suspicion. 
To Juliet.) I think this must be our dance. I am 
sorry to be so late, but a host, on these occasions, is 
expected to be here, there, and everywhere. I know 
you will forgive me. 

JULIET. 

Oh, of course. I . . . I . . . did n't really ex- 
pect you, but . . . Oh, see . . . (holding up her sash), 
when I was playing with the goldfish I splashed some 
water on my sash. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

How careless 1 

JULIET {crosses the room). 

I am afraid I must change it before I go back to 
the ballroom. I sha'n't be long. Do you mind ? 
(St. Orbyn ha?ids her her gloves.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 8i 

SIR WILLIAM {wiping his brovj). 

There 's no hurry. I shall be glad to have a little 
chat with St. Orbyn. (Juliet goes out.) I have not 
had a moment with you since I arrived. I always say, 
if you want to see your friends, meet 'em at some one 
else's house — not your own ! (JHoves over to sofa.) 
Between ourselves, I am very worried. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why? 

SIR WILLIAM (seating himself). 

I 'm in a cursed hard position. 

ST. ORBYN. 

How amusin' ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Oh no; nothing is amusing that can lead to hys- 
terics and fainting fits! You don't know what it is 
to have two or three women wrangling about one. 

ST. ORBYN. 

No ! Perhaps not ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Mama is drinking quinine by the pint, and Gwen- 
dolene is shooting out her eyes at me at every turning. 
What is to be done ? 



82 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

ST. ORBYN. 

That 's the very thing, no doubt, that everybody is 
asking. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

I 'm devoted, as you know, to mama. She has 
sacrificed her whole life to Vivian — and myself. She 
was left a widow at nineteen. 

ST. ORBYN. 

And what a pretty creature she was too ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

She might have married again {with a long look at 
St. Orbyn) . . . but she did n't. Well, on one side 
I see this noble self-sacrifice, on the other I am driven 
to ask myself whether this affection for Juliet is a 
passing and violent fancy. You will own that Juliet 
has charm? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes . . . great charm ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

But the women — my stepmother's friends, women 
of high breeding and culture and experience — seem to 
detect in Juliet a certain note of satire — as though 
she rather laughed at one — which they say augurs ill 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 83 

for married happiness. Now I cannot disguise from 
myself . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

No, disguise nothing ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Juliet has ideas. She says she would die for them. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why not ? To die for one's great ideas is glorious 
— and easy. The horror is to outlive them. That is 
our worst capability. 

SIR WILLIAM {annoyed at the interruption'). 
Now, I ask you, as a man of the world, do you be- 
lieve in the general workablenesss of love at first sight. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I 've known instances of it . . . among my own 
intimate acquaintance, in fact ! One cannot dogma- 
tise on the subject. Sometimes it answers, and some- 
times — it does n't ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

I suppose it is just one of those things which happen. 

ST. ORBYN. 

If it turns out badly, no one talks of anything else. 



84 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

SIR WILLIAM. 

And if it turns out well . . . ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

They won't take the smallest interest in the matter. 
Those who have made unhappy marriages walk on 
stilts, while the happy ones are on a level with the 
crowd. No one sees 'em! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

I cannot think that the anxiety of the last few weeks 
points to a peaceful issue. I have a little burden on 
my conscience too ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Your conscience ! This means, of course, that 
somebody somewhere is crying ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

How did you guess ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

I always associate a man's conscience with a 
woman's tears. They are inseparable. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

I begin to wonder if I have acted well towards 
Gwendolene. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 85 

ST. ORBYN. 

You certainly grew up together with the notion of 
pleasing your parents by marrying. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

She has behaved in the most touching manner — 
not a reproach — but, little things tell ! She no longer 
wears a small gift I gave her — a trifle — a moonstone 
brooch. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Every time I see her now, I miss it, and it is as 
though a certain light had gone out of my life. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I attach, as you do, immense importance to the 
brooch episode ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

I am glad you agree with me. That simple, un- 
studied act, I assure you, has cut me to the heart 
more deeply than any scene, any appeal could ever 
have done. It is by these means — so artless and so 
infinitely pathetic — that women conquer us. 

ST. ORBYN. 

True. Oh, how true ! 



86 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Turn over my difficulty in your mind. See — on 
the one side the unswerving love of Gwendolene. 

ST. ORBYN (working on his sympathy). 

The friendship of your childhood, the affection of 
your more mature years. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

She is not pretty . . . she is not accomplished. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

But she is good. She has fine eyes, and then — 
she 's fond of you ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Very ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

On the other side . . . ? 

SIR WILLIAM. 

There is a fancy, perhaps a purely physical infatu- 
ation. I say perhaps. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Nothing more likely. Take that for granted. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 87 

SIR WILLIAM {sighing). 
While Juliet herself is, I must say, extremely cold, 
with all her lively airs. 

ST, ORBYN. 

Personally, I should not hesitate for a moment. 

{Rises.) 

SIR WILLIAM (rising). 

Then what would you do ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Do ! I would take the woman I wanted, of course ! 

" Gather the rose of love whilst yet 't is time, 

Whilst loving thou mightst loved be . . ." 

and so on ! 

SIR WILLIAM (sighing). 

Yet . . . how delightful she is ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Which of 'em ? 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Why, Juliet, of course ! 

ST. ORBYN {seeitig his hesitancy). 
Ah, but think of that other poor girl! Think of 
Gwendolene — her sleepless nights — watching the 
sun rise and the moon come out. . . . 



88 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Awful ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Think of her silent tears ! How she has shared in 
thought and hope every step in your career. Ah, 
never play with hearts ! And then think of her eyes 
— those mournful eyes full of a great, uncomplaining, 
ever-devoted love. Upon my word, it would move 
a Don Juan to fidelity ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Well, I hope I 'm not a Don Juan ! But I grant 
Gwendolene's claim. And, after all, Juliet told me 
at the beginning that she did not love me. 

ST. ORBYN [relieved). 
Ah, she told you that, did she .•' 

SIR WILLIAM. 

(Taking St. Orbyn's arm and walking with him.) 

Yes, with the most amazing candour. I confess I 
was piqued — deucedly piqued ! At the time, I put 
it down to coquetry, but since my arrival here she has 
been more distant than ever. We have hardly ex- 
changed a word. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 89 

ST. ORBYN {with veiled sarcasm). 
But then, your stepmother has naturally monopo- 
lised you to the exclusion of others ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

True. When I saw my stepmother — I had not 
expected such a change — I felt I ought, in du^y, to 
knock under. 

ST. ORBYN. 

My dear Bill, you are right. A broken engage- 
ment is a pity, but a wretched marriage is a joke — 
a hideous, hellish joke ! Don't submit the most seri- 
ous action of your life to the judgment of a parcel of 
old women, who only think of the presents they have 
had engraved with your wife's monogram ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

That's all very well, but they rule the set, you 
know. If they don't happen to like a woman, they 
can make it very disagreeable for a fellow. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I suppose they can — given the fellow ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

All the same, your advice is excellent (both walk up 
stage)^ and I am wholly of your opinion, but — how 
in the world . . . 



90 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, Princess ! 
(^Enter the Princess Vendramini and Lord Lavens- 

THORPE.) 
SIR WILLIAM. 

I will leave you. \_Exit with Lavensthorpe. 

VENDRAMINI {tO ST. ORBYN). 

Well, have you been happy this evening ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Your presence casts a spell over my memory. 
Now, at last, I am in bliss ; I forget all that I was, 
or have been ! 

VENDRAMINI {seating herself). 
Your compliments are a two-edged sword ; they 
hurt both of us ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

I deserve my wounds. And you, Rosamund . . . ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

I own I am not blameless. 

ST. ORBYN. 

It is so hard to know when you speak in mockery 
and when you speak in earnest. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 91 

VENDRAMINI {laughing bitterly). 

Do you think that any woman can be in earnest 
when she refers to her own shortcomings ? But, 
speaking of faults, what do you think now of Httle 
Gainsborough ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

She has eyes like woods of autumn, and a voice like 
the west wind among roses ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Little minx ! Why don't you trust me, and speak 
out ? Madame de Savigny and Princess ZoubarofF 
both say . . . 

ST. ORBYN {sitting R. of her). 

No names ! Mention no names, I entreat you. 
The one safe theme in diplomatic circles is Ancient 
History. Talk of Caesar, George IV., Henry VHI., 
or Oueen Anne, and mean . . . whom you please. 
But don't speak of your friends — friends with whom 
we dine, have dined, and hope again to dine. 

VENDRAMINI. 

I believe that little thing has bewitched you ! Gwen 
Marlcaze told me as much just now. 



92 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

ST. ORBYN. 

Poor Gwen ! She is youngish, prettyish . . , 

VENDRAMiNi {tartly). 
And foolish ! 

ST. ORBYN {thoughtfully). 
It is a great embarrassment, but there seems no 
lively way of describing the virtues ! 

VENDRAMINI {peevishly). 
The virtues aren't women at all. 

ST. ORBYN. 

What are they ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

Allegories. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Your sex, then, consists of the Graces, the Muses, 
and the Dowdies ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

You sha'n't change the subject ! I call Gwen 
Marleaze a cat ! Upon my word, I would sooner Bill 
married Juliet after all. 

ST. ORBYN. 

There I can't agree with you. The more I see 
of Miss Gainsborough, the more I feel convinced that 
Sir William is not the man to make her happy ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 93 

VENDRAMINI. 

Nonsense ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

But he could never appreciate her : that shy, deli- 
cate humour ; that innocent roguery . . . that pearly 
flesh tint round the chin ! 

VENDRAMINI. 

Mon Dieu ! The flame this time has been extin- 
guished by the moth ! She has got the better of you. 
Who would have believed it ! She has fooled you ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not at all. You will not deny that she is just 
nineteen. Tou will know, because I think she told 
me you were present at her christening. 

VENDRAMINI (^falling into the trap). 
Nineteen ! She is not nineteen. She is barely 
seventeen ... if that. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Delighted to hear it ! Again, you own she is lovely 
to look at ? 

VENDRAMINI, 

I admit she possesses certain attractions of a super- 
ficial kind. 



94 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 



ST. ORBYN. 



Exactly. A fine complexion, beautiful hair, and 
pretty features are unquestionably on the surface. I 
thank my stars they are ! One would not be well 
advised to take them, like the soul, for granted ! (Rises 
and moves c.) But come, can you resist this music ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

I could resist the music . . . but you — alas ! {Sighs^ 

ST. ORBYN. 

Shall we go ? 
{She accepts his arm^ and they return to the hall-room as 
Sir William ««<5^ Juliet enter hy r. arch; Juliet 
IS carrying some letters.') 

JULIET (to SIR WILLIAM). 

As I was passing through the hall, I found these 
letters. They are from Berlin. I thought they might 
be important. There is one I sent on Saturday, which 
missed you. I should like you to read it. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Why read it when you are here yourself? I can 
read this at any time — when I am alone. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 95 

JULIET {in a low voice). 
I would rather you read it now, because it is really 
rather important. 

SIR WILLIAM {peevishly). 
I tell you, I am not in the mood. I am greatly 
distressed about Mama and one or two other things. 
I am not myself. . . . I . • • 
{Enter Vivian hurriedly^ pale and greatly agitated.) 

VIVIAN {to SIR WILLIAM). 

Bill! I must see you at once. It is a matter of 
life and death. Please leave us alone, Juliet. 

SIR WILLIAM {pompously). 
This is absurd. What is the matter ? I cannot 
go into it now. I can conceive of nothing so 
inopportune ! 

JULIET. 

Do see him, Bill. I can wait here. I shall like 
resting. (Putting her hand on his arm.) Be kind to 
him, won't you? {She glides away to the side and sits 

up L.) 

SIR WILLIAM {to VIVIAN). 

Well, what is it ? {Crosses and sits on couch.) 



96 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

VIVIAN {standing over sir w^illiam). 

I 'm in the most awful fix. You knovir Hugo 
Lascelles ? 

sir m^illiam. 

I have heard of the person. 

VIVIAN. 

He's been very decent to me. . . . He let me play 
cards with him. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Indeed ! 

VIVIAN. 

Just at first I won a good deal. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Well ? 

VIVIAN. 

Then I began to lose ... a good deal more than 
I won. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Of course ! Well . . . ? 

VIVIAN. 

You know Mama has been too ill to read her letters 
lately. The other day a cheque came from Didcomb 
for ^500. It so happened that I put it in my breast- 
pocket. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 97 

SIR WILLIAM. 
Well . , . ? 

VIVIAN. 

Last night I lost ;^500 to Lascelles. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Lost ;^500 ! . . . Good Gad ! . . . Good Gad ! 
[Stands up.) . . . Good Gad ! 

VIVIAN. 

What is the use of Good Gad-ing about the place ? 
I thought I should win it back in no time ... so I 
played again this afternoon. I lost more . . . 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Well ? 

VIVIAN. 

There were several fellows there ... I had prom- 
ised Lascelles the money. So . . . without meaning 
it ... I thought of the cheque. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Go on ! 

VIVIAN. 

Well ... I endorsed it in Mama's name . . . and 
gave it him. 

7 



98 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

SIR WILLIAM. 

You mean to say you forged Mama's name ? 

VIVIAN. 

I tell you I did n't mean to do it. It was one of 
those sudden impulses. ... It just came into my head. 
... I tell you it seemed the only way out of the 
scrape. I thought you would n't mind paying in the 
money to Mama's account, so that she would n't miss 
it. I have acknowledged the cheque to Didcomb. 
He 's all right. I can arrange the details later . . . 
but . . . 

SIR WILLIAM. 

You expected me to be a party to this abominable 
deception . . . 7ne ! {Paces the room.) 

VIVIAN {following him). 
I '11 pay it all back again — honour bright — when 
I come of age. What's a little beastly five hundred 
pound to you ? I don't ask it for my sake either, 
but for her — to save her — when she is so ill and 
worried about you. You might be willing to spare 
her the disappointment about me. She would n't 
mind the money. It 's the way I 've got it. She 
told me to break off with Lascelles — but she told 
you to break off with 'Juliet , . . 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 99 

SIR WILLIAM. 

{^Springing to his feet indignantly.) 
Not another word ! 

VIVIAN. 

I say it is n't so easy as it seems to go about break- 
ing off. You might be decent for this once and pay 
the money — and jaw, if you like, afterwards. 

SIR WILLIAM (after some hesitation). 
No. On principle! No! 

VIVIAN. 

I say, you don't mean that ? You 're an awfully 
good-hearted chap, really. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

This flattery is nauseating. I say Mama has in- 
dulged you to the most absurd degree. Let her observe 
the disastrous effect of a fond bringing up. 

VIVIAN (half in tears). 

What is the good of going on like this ? Lascelles, 
I tell you, has got the cheque. He will pay it in to- 
morrow morning. 



100 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Tell me no more about it. On principle, I wash 
my hands of the matter. 

VIVIAN. 

Then I shall blow my brains out — that 's all ! 
{Excited.) 

SIR WILLIAM. 

These vulgar threats, my dear Vivian, are unavailing. 

VIVIAN. 

But I tell you . . . 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Silence, I say. Here is your wretched mother. 
{Enter Lady Beauvedere.) 

LADY beauvedere. 

Bill, Vivian, surely you have partners. You cannot 
be spared from the ball-room. Several of the best 
dancers have left already. I believe that dreadful 
Major Lascelles is giving a party himself this evening, 
merely to vex me and entice away my men. 

sir WILLIAM. 

I find it hard to believe that any of your friends 
would prefer Lascelles' society to ours. But {with a 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR loi 

pointed glance at Vivian), one can be sure of nothing. 
{To Lady Beauvedere.) I will come with you. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Taking Sir William's arm.) 
Come, dear Vivie. 

VIVIAN. 

I 'm coming ... in a minute. 

(Lady Beauvedere and Sir William go back to the 
ball-room. Vivian remains staring after them.) 

VIVIAN. 

All right ... I say, all right. {Takes a small 
pocket-pistol from his pocket.) I 'm not such a fool as I 
look. I know the quickest way out of every scrape. 
{Handles the pistol.) 

JULIET. 

{Rushing forward from her place of semi-concealment.) 
Vivian ! What are you doing ? 

VIVIAN {hiding the pistol). 
I was . . . just thinking, that 's all. 

JULIET {embarrassed). 

Vivie ... I could n't help hearing . . . some of 
the things. . . . Bill talks rather loud, and I was so 



102 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

afraid lest some one else should hear, that I nearly 
interrupted him. 

VIVIAN {huskily^ 

Don't be sorry. Every dog has his day. I 've had 
mine . . . I 've had a very good time, take it all 
round. I ain't complaining. 

JULIET {moving near to him). 

I wish I could help you. I have n't a penny of 
money myself, but Major Lascelles w^ould be kind, I 
know, if you asked him. 

VIVIAN. 

Ah, you don't know Lascelles. 

JULIET. 

Oh yes, I do ! 

VIVIAN. 

You do ! 

JULIET. 

I 've known him ever since I can remember. 

VIVIAN {apparently struck with an idea). 
Does he like you ? 

JULIET {simply). 
I think so. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 103 

VIVIAN. 

Would you have the pluck to . . . no, you 
would n't. . . . 

JULIET {eagerly^ 
Yes, I would . . . but what for ? 

VIVIAN. 

He will do nothing for men. He is as hard as the 
devil with men, but they say he will do any mortal 
thing for a pretty woman. 

JULIET. 

You want me to ask him not to present that cheque ? 

VIVIAN. 

That 's it. What a clever girl you are, after all ! 

JULIET. 

I Ml write him a note in the morning. 

VIVIAN. 

A note . . . that won't do . . . you must see him. 

JULIET. 

Very well, then I '11 go and see him to-morrow. 



104 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

VIVIAN. 

But . . . to-morrow will be too late. You must 
go to-night. 

JULIET. 

To-night ! Why, it 's nearly three o'clock already. 

VIVIAN. 

Ah, I knew you would n't have the pluck ! But, 
think how easy it will be. He has a party this evening. 

JULIET. 

Yes. 

VIVIAN. 

So ... I know you will find him at home. 

JULIET. 

Yes. 

VIVIAN. 

You can get out through that gate. [Points to con- 
servatory door.^ 

JULIET. 

Yes. 

VIVIAN. 

Run across the garden to his house. 

JULIET. 

I see. 

VIVIAN. 

Send up your name on a card. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 105 

JULIET. 

Yes. 

VIVIAN. 

Ask to see him . , . and tell the concierge that you 
have an appointment. 

JULIET. 

Well . . . what else ? 

VIVIAN. 

He '11 see you, be quite sure of that. Make him 
give you back the cheque into your own hands. 
Don't come away without it. 



JULIET. 

VIVIAN. 



I '11 do it. 
You will ! 

JULIET. 

I '11 do it . . . not for you — but, for your mother. 

VIVIAN. 

Ah, you would n't like to see her heart broken, 
would you ? 

JULIET. 

I say I will do it on her account. Have you got 
the key of the garden gate ? 



io6 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

VIVIAN {taking it from his pocket'). 
Yes, I use it . . . rather often. 

JULIET. 

Oh, Vivie ! 

VIVIAN. 

My dear girl, a man can't run around holding his 
mother's hand all day ! {Gives her the key.) 

JULIET. 

Quick! quick ! {He moves to door and opens it.) Will 
you wait here to let me in when I come back ? Oh, 
Vivie, it is very dangerous ... if any one were to see 
me, how could I explain ? {Follows him to door.) 

VIVIAN. 

They won't see you. They 've never caught me 
yet. Make haste. 

JULIET. 

I see the way now . . . straight across the garden 
through the gate. {She puts scarf round her head.) Oh, 
Vivie, why did you do it ? Your poor mother ! 
{She darts out^ and he closes the door. At this moment 

the music ceases. The couples pour in. Among them is 

GwENDOLENE, looking very pale.^ on Sir William's 

arm., followed by Lady Beauvedere.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 107 

GWENDOLENE. 

I feel a little faint. . . . Could you take me to the 
door ? . . . The air . . . 

SIR WILLIAM {opening the door). 
There . . . are you better, dear Gwendolene ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE, 

Fetch her my salts — quickly. 

\_Exit Sir William. 

GWENDOLENE. 

Thank you ... so much better . . . {She lifts her 
head^ looks out into the garden., suddenly seems amaxed., 
rubs her eyes., seizes Lady Beauvedere's arm.) Lady 
Beauvedere, do you see that white figure .''... run- 
ning . . . is . . . look quickly. . . . 

lady beauvedere {peering). 
Where, Gwen ? ... It is ... ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

Can it be . . . Juliet? Where is she going? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Where is she going? 



io8 THE AMBASSADOR [Act II 

GWENDOLENE. 

There are lights in Major Lascelles' windows. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

What has she to do with Major Lascelles ? 

GWENDOLENE. 

She met him this morning. ... I caught her wav- 
ing to him from the drawing-room. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {quickly). 

Not a word of this to Bill. . . . Leave it all to me. 
. . . Not a word. . . . [She goes out into the garden.) 
(Sir William returns with the smelling-bottle. Gwen- 
DOLENE closes the door hurriedly^ 

SIR WILLIAM (anxiously to gwendolene). 
Are you better? 

GWENDOLENE {smiling'). 
So much better ! 

End of Second Act 



THE THIRD ACT 

Scene : At Major Lascelles' residence in the Champs Elyse'es. 
Time: About j a.m. Room furnished in the Renaissance 
style: hewvily gilded ceiling, dark nvood chairs; pre=vailing 
tints, gold and blue and red. As curtain rises great noise of 
laughing and chattering. Supper table is seen nvith remains 
of ■very elaborate supper. About six guests besides Lascelles 
himself. Four are 'women. As curtain rises Miss Katie and 
Miss Yolande Taylorson, tijuo young girls, nvith hair 
donun their backs, dressed fantastically in accordion-pleated 
baby dresses, are standing in front of supper table ^wrapt in 
contemplation of a song being sung by ToTO, a young man, 
accompanied by Miss Mamie Taylorson, the eldest daugh- 
ter of Mrs. Taylorson. Mrs. Taylorson, an elderly 
lady 'very iveary, in black silk of the utmost respectability, 
^watches her daughters njoith pride. 'This group to con'vey an 
impression of candid 'vulgarity as opposed to 'vicious, or merely 
fashionable 'vulgarity. At conclusion of song all clap hands. 

LORD REGGIE (seated R. of table). 
And now, Miss Katie, won't you dance ? 

MRS. TAYLORSON. 

Why, yes, Katie, you can do that little skirt dance 
for Lord Reggie. 



no THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

KATIE. 

Why, yes — if you'll {to Mamie) play. (Talks to 
Lord Reggie.) 

(Mamie begins to play opening bars of the Sonata 
Pathetique.) 

KATIE. 

Oh, Mamie, not that one ! That 's the tune the 
old cow died of! 

MAMIE (with indignation). 
Did you expect me to play anything different ? My 
style is Classic. 

KATIE. 

Oh, well, I know that, but try how I will, I can't 
dance worth a cent to really good music. Please play 
something vulgar just for this once ! 

MAMIE (with a deep sigh). 
Well, I will. {Plays.^ 
Katie dances most decorously ; while she is dancing enter 
St. Orbyn.) 

lascelles. 
O, le bienvenu ! How did you escape so soon ? 
(Leaning on back of piano.) Was the widow's ball a 
bore .? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR iii 

ST. ORBYN (yolande goes to him). 
I could not love "ma belle cousine " so much loved 
I not dulness more ! {^Shakes hands with Yolande.) 

YOLANDE. 

Pshaw ! Mama, Lord St. Orbyn always calls me 
cousin ! 

MRS. TAYLORSON. 

Why, that 's very kind ! 

KATIE. 

Mama, let me present Lord St, jOrbyn. (Mrs. 
Taylorson rises.) Lord St. Orbyn, this is my mother, 
Mrs. Whitcomb J. Taylorson. (^Crosses and speaks to 
Yolande.) 

MRS. taylorson. 

Happy to meet you, Lord St. Orbyn. 

ST. ORBYN {to MRS. TAYLORSON). 

Delighted to meet the charming mother of the 
Muses. 

(Yolande sits on the supper table.) 

MRS. TAYLORSON (very practically). 
Oh, now. Lord St. Orbyn ! You know Mamie ? 
(Lord St. Orbyn bows to Mamie.) If you would 



112 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

just put in a word {confidentially^ for Yolande and Katie 
at the Grand Opera House, I 'd be real grateful to you. 
You know they 're studying their voices here for the 
stage. Mamie, of course, is at the Conservatoire, 
studying the piano. 

MAMIE. 

For the Lamoureux Concerts . . . nothing less ! 

MRS. TAYLORSON. 

Yolande 's had elegant offers, but she won't marry. 
She's an artiste by temperament. Art with her is all 
in all. 

YOLANDE. 

( JVith her mouth full. Still sitting on table and taking up 
a dish of pastry^ 

I live for Art. Marriage is like a good pie spoilt in 
the baking. Everything is admirable except the result ! 
It is very heavy . . . very, very heavy ! {Bursts into 
laughter and throws plate on the floor. ^ 

KATIE. 

Why, Yolande, how you do act ! I sh' think you 'd 
be ashamed ! 

YOLANDE. 

Get along ! He 's not the only pebble on the beach ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 113 

ST. ORBYN {going over to lascelles at piano). 
Just get rid of them for a moment. Send them 
into the billiard-room. I want a few minutes with 
you. I must be quiet. {Crosses up into recess L.) 

LASCELLES. 

Here, Reggie, just go into the billiard-room a little 
^ ' ^* [^Exeunt Reggie, Yolande, and Katie. 

LASCELLES. 

Here, Toto, just go with the other children into the 
next room. 

TOTO (eating stolidly at head of table). 
Oh no ; I 'm still too hungry ! 

LASCELLES. 

I thought of that. There is another supper in 
there. {Gives his arm to Mrs. Taylorson.) 

MRS. taylorson. 

Why, how lavish ! 

[^Exeunt Mrs. Taylorson, Toto, and Mamie. 

LASCELLES. 

Yolande is a great dear ! Awful straight goer too ! 
Is n't she amusing ? 



114 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

ST. ORBYN. 

{^Coming down r. with a sigh of reliefs and sitting in chair. ^ 
Oh, I dare say, when one is in the right vein. 

LASCELLES. 

Why, what is the matter ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

It 's a wise man that knows his own imbecility ! 

LASCELLES. 

But this is serious. When Yolande begins to bore 
a man, I know what to expect. You must be con- 
templating marriage. 

ST. ORBYN {irritably). 

No doubt. If anything on earth would fairly kick 
one into marriage, it would be Yolande ! But, I 'm 
not thinking about her at all. 

LASCELLES. 

Of course not. {Gets chair from table and sits.) Has 
she blue eyes, this time, or brown? Has she a cruel 
parent, or a brutal husband ? Is she tender, or is she 
proud ? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 115 

ST. ORRYN. 

This is altogether a new experience! This . . . 
this is the real thing ! I have often been taken, often 
fallen in love, if you like, for all sorts of reasons ; 
but, this time I am not conscious of any particular 
reason one way or the other. It is destiny . . . 
destiny ! 

LASCELLES. 

If you once begin to talk about destiny, you know . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

I am not a romantic boy with a head full of rhymes 
and a liver full of illusions. . . . 



LASCELLES. 

I 'd rather be ruled by a liver than by love ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

A liver lasts longer ! Oh, I know my world — I 
know women. I know their faults. I know their 
good points too. Women may be whole oceans deeper 
than we are, but they are also a whole paradise better ! 
She may have got us out of Eden, but as a compen- 
sation she makes the earth very pleasant ! If I have 
not married, it is because I did n't believe in women. 



ii6 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

Why, then ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Because I have not believed in myself I 

LASCELLES. 

And now ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Oh, now I begin to understand my own poetry ! 
That 's something^ you know — hang it ! that's a good 
deal; indeed, that 's half the battle ! 

LASCELLES. 

You have certainly written a lot of poetry about 
love. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, it was all imagination. It was not from my 
own experience. 

LASCELLES. 

They say the nightingale sings divinely during his 
courtship, but, once mated, he can only croak. 

ST. ORBYN. 

That may be my case. At any rate, I have at 
last met the one woman I can worship ... do you 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 117 

hear — worship? . . . [Rises.) What do you know 
about worship ? . . . Nothing ! 

LASCELLES. 

I am having an object-lesson now. (^Turning chair 
towards St. Orbyn.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Guess who it is ? 

LASCELLES. 

I must decline that indiscretion. 

ST. ORBYN. 

(Sitting at supper table and moving things about nervously?) 

Think of the ass she is engaged to. Think of the 
dull, portentous bore with the brain of a . . . a . . . 
lobster and the heart of a . . . a . . . spring onion ! 
{Takes a piece of lobster and a spring onion out of the 
salad bowl.) Think of him. 

LASCELLES. 

By Jove ! you don't mean . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes, I do. There is but one. 



ii8 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

Good Lord ! What is going to happen ? 

ST. ORBYN (sitting R. of table). 
A row, of course. 

LASCELLES. 

But seriously . . . you mean Bill Beauvedere? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not seriously — superfluous fy / That is all — super- 
fluously. He must be removed. He can't be per- 
mitted : he is an unnecessary person ! 

LASCELLES. 

That 's all very w^ell, but this is going to be 
awkward. 

ST. ORBYN. 

By no means. A little friendly jobbery, that 's all ! 
I know his mother, I know the girl — such a nice, 
good, plain girl — he ought to marry. It is just a 
simple case of a plus b plus x minus x — a mere mat- 
ter of subtraction. These problems are nothing to 
me. 

LASCELLES. 

I have every confidence in your skill, but these 
things work out better on paper than they do in the 
flesh. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 119 

ST. ORBYN. 

Bosh ! Flesh ! Who cares for the flesh ? My 
godmother renounced all that for me at my baptism ! 

LASCELLES. 

Ah ! there is where you diplomatists come to grief; / 
you are always backing the devil against the world ' 
. . . and the rest of it. 

ST. ORBYN. 

The devil is a very poor creature. I have no opinion 
of him ... I would n't put a shilling on him ; a low, 
tenth-rate, rank outsider ! Faust called in all hell in 
order to ruin one simple girl, and she, by her prayers 
to Heaven, saved his soul ! No, love will get the better 
of the devil every time; love is the supreme power; 
love, my dear fellow, is . . . simply tremendous; love 
is the one thing that always wins, and must win ; love 
has wings, do you hear ? . . . wings ! 

LASCELLES. 

Yes ... to fly away ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

No, no. That's so vulgar; everybody says that 
who has backed a wrong 'un ! No, love has wings to 
lift one out of every trouble, every disaster ; love . . . 



120 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

If this fancy comes to a crisis, I suppose you know 
what will happen ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

No. 

LASCELLES. 

Miss Gainsborough is a charming girl, and beautiful 
— but she's no match! She is all that a woman 
should be — high-minded, virtuous, exquisite, but — 
she 's no match ! 

ST. ORBYN (rising). 

No match ! 

LASCELLES. 

She has, perhaps, five thousand pound, all told. The 
Duke of Drumdrosset, her grandfather, is a recluse ; 
few people have even heard of him — at any rate he 's 
not a bit of good ! It would be a foolish marriage. It 
would, indeed. No candid friend of yours could say 
otherwise. 

ST. ORBYN (satirically^ moving towards fireplace). 

And yet — she is all that a woman should be, 
charming, beautiful, high-minded, virtuous, exquisite ! 

LASCELLES. 

Well, are n't there other women equally delightful, 
but who have money into the bargain, and who have 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 121 

influence in the right quarters ? What I ask is this — 
does your private fortune, quite apart from your salary, 
allow you to play Prince Charming to Cinderella ? 

ST. ORBYN {to himself). 
No match ! Good Lord ! No match ! (Laughs.) 

LASCELLES. 

I know the Foreign Office. They will take you 
away from Rome. You will never get Paris or Peters- 
burg — never ! But they will give you something 
dingy and feverish, God knows where ! 

ST. ORBYN {seating himself). 

Let 'em ! Fine appointments are rare, but a good 
wife is rarer. The Foreign Office, my dear fellow, is 
not, and never has been the master of my fate. I do 
my work honestly, and if they can find a better fellow 
for their business, let 'em send for him by all means. 
But my marriage is my business. Miss Gainsborough 
is a lady who, if she consents to join her life with 
mine, will do me the greatest honour that existence 
can give. Do you understand me now ? 

LASCELLES. 
I do! {Rises; gets cigarette-box from table.) 



122 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

ST. ORBYN. 

Moreover, say that my private means are small, 
well, when I retire, I can live in what people call a 
small way. I can do admirably on ;^2,ooo a year — 
and bills ! 

LASCELLES. 

Bills ! That is what I am thinking of. With your 
tastes, your habits {handing him cigarette from box on 
tahle\ your friends ! This is all very well and pretty, 
but at your age and with your experience. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

I don't care. It is just because I a7n at my age and 
have had my experience that I am determined to have 
my own way. With £1^000 a year one can take a 
little place in the country, and what with one's books 
and one's garden . . . and a friend or two to stay 
with one now and again . . . 

LASCELLES. 

Oh, charming — for a short time! But it is very 
difficult to live on ;^2,000 a year all the year round ! 
And then your ambition ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

What of that ? In the age of chivalry one's de- 
votion to a sweetheart was as necessary as one's glory 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 123 

in the fight. A man was no man unless he could be 
determined in love. Well, it 's the same to-day. A 
man is still a man. And when you see a fellow 
really making his mark, really feared by his enemies 
and liked by his friends, you will find . . . 

LASCELLES. 

What ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

You will find that he has had, among other things, 
the sense to marry for love. 

LASCELLES. 

But love-matches don't always make for happiness ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Never mind that. The great thing is to love — 
not to be happy. Love is for both worlds. Perfect 
happiness is for the other only. 

LASCELLES. 

Well, say you are very fond of Miss Gains- 
borough. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

I 'm not " veiy fond " of her ... I love her / My 
part is sure at any rate. The rest is for Providence 
or Fate. 



124 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

My goodness ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

I take her for better for worse, for richer for poorer. 
(^Naively.) There is nothing about happiness or the 
Foreign Office in the marriage vows ! And, more- 
over . . . {^perceiving Duval enter R., changes whole 
tone) . . . Yes, as you were saying, it is clear as 
daylight that the Government desires to see the 
whole question settled. {Crosses the room.) 
(Duval hands Lascelles a card.) 

LASCELLES. 

{Without reading the card; grinning.) 

Oh, this is Tina — dear little Tina! She's killing! 
But fancy the puss sending up a card. {To Duval.) 
Show her up. {Exit Duval. Lascelles takes card 
to lamp.^ reading it to himself.) Good Lord ! . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

What is the matter ? 

lascelles. 

It is n't Tina, after all I It 's some one . . . some 
one . . . else. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 125 

ST. ORBYN {languidly). 

Can't you pack her into the billiard-room with the 
others ? 

LASCELLES. 

Well, I need n't see her here. I '11 tell you what 
I '11 do — I 'II . . . (walks to door R.). 

{Just as he is going to the door^ Duval ushers in Juliet, 
who has a lace scarf over her head. As she enters., 
she throws back the scarf. St. Orbyn springs to his 
feet on recognising her. Both bow low — then St. 
Orbyn goes in the billiard-room^ leaving Lascelles 
and Juliet together^ 

JULIET. 

Major Lascelles, you will be greatly surprised . . . 

lascelles. 
No, no. Pray sit down. I am only sorry that . . . 
{Loud peals of laughter from the billiard-room.) 

JULIET {starting and speaking eagerly). 

I came to ask a favour. ... It is something I can- 
not write, because there is not a moment to be lost 
— not an instant. 



126 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

You have only to ask it. 

JULIET. 

It is about Vivian. He w^as here this afternoon, 
wasn't he? And you very kindly allovv^ed him to join 
... to join one of your amusing games, didn't you ? 
And in the excitement . . . he . . . Inadvertently gave 
you something by mistake . . . didn't he ? 

LASCELLES {very quietly). 

I knew ... at the time, that it was, as you say, a 
mistake . . . there is no occasion for anxiety. {Goes 
to escritoire up L., and unlocks it^ and takes out envelope.) 
The error ... is in that. 

JULIET. 

But the debt ? 

LASCELLES. 

The debt ? That 's Vivian's lesson. You know 
there's a time to be young, there's a time to be 
foolish. 

JULIET. 

Oh, how can I thank you ! I was so anxious, be- 
cause his mother does not understand . . . games and 
things, as you do. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 127 

LASCELLES. 

She shall never know. 

JULIET. 

It was a mistake, after all, any one might make, 
was n't it ? 

LASCELLES. 

Oh, yes, quite a common occurrence. Never gave 
it a second thought ! 

JULIET. 

How good you are ! And . . . now, I have to 
ask something else. (^IVith great difficulty.') Don't 
explain my reason for coming here to Lord St. Orbyn. 

LASCELLES (taking her hand). 
Is that your wish, because ... he might think . . . 

JULIET. 

It is my wish. Don't explain on any account. 

LASCELLES. 

I promise you. 

JULIET. 

Thank you. (^Shakes hands with him. Laughter 
heard from the billiard-room.) May I go now ? {Moves 
to door below sofa. Lady Beauvedere knocks a door.) 



128 THE AMBASSAr30R [Act III 

LASCELLES. 

Who is that ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (entering and coming down R. c). 
May I come in ? 

JULIET (with a cry of terror^ 
Ah ! . . . Lady Beauvedere ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {advancing^). 

Major Lascelles, I must apologise for this intrusion. 
It is made, as you may believe, against my will ; but 
I thought Juliet ought not to be here alone. . . . {^She 
pauses.^ 

LASCELLES. 

I hope you don't think . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (haughtily). 

If you ask me what I think., I can only say that I 
know nothing., that I understand nothing, and, on the 
other hand, that I can conceive of nothing that would 
explain this. 

JULIET. 

(To Lascelles, seeing him about to speak.) 

Please . . . please ! Let me see Lady Beauvedere 
alone for a few minutes. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 129 

LASCELLES. 

But Lady Beauvedere may not be aware that your 
father is one of my oldest friends. 

(^Billiard-room door bursts open and Yolande runs 
iny sees visitors.) 

YOLANDE. 

Great Caesar ! 

(^Bangs door and goes out^ g^ggH^g loudly."^ 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (^controlling her indignation). 

No doubt Miss Gainsborough finds a party of old 
friends more amusing than one among new acquain- 
tances ! 

JULIET {to LASCELLES). 

Please leave us. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I am unable to remain here, Major Lascelles. I 
have stolen away, as it is, from my own house, my 
own guests, in order to save this reckless girl from the 
w^orst consequences of this conduct. I blame you 
more {to Lascelles), but I blame her sufficiently. 

{Singing from billiard-room ; Lascelles goes to door to 
quiet them^ and remains at back of stage^ by the 
writing table.\ 

9 



130 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

JULIET {to LADY BEAUVEDERE). 

(This scene to be taken at a quick pace. The words 
must come^ as it were., like hailstones.) 

Wait, wait ! I know I must seem foolish, and . . . 
everything else. I know that, and I can never explain, 
never. But, you need not be so sorrowful because I 
am no longer engaged to Bill. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (astOUnded). 

No longer engaged to Bill ! Has he broken off the 
engagement ? 

JULIET {smiling sadly). 

No, I wrote to him before he came from Berlin. 
Five days ago. The letter missed him, unfortunately, 
but he has got the letter this evening. I know that he 
has it, for I gave it to him myself. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

But what did he say ? My poor boy, how did he 
bear it ? 

JULIET {firmly). 

Nothing that he could say would alter me, and I 
am sure he will bear it in the way you would most 
desire ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR • 131 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

But — why did you do this . . . why ? 

JULIET {with spirit). 

Because I saw that you were miserable : because I 
knew . . . suddenly . . . that I did not love him well 
enough : because I felt, all at once, that we could 
never, never make each other happy — that it was most 
unfair to him, to you, to all of us, from beginning to 
end : that is the reason why ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Had you seen any one else ? 

JULIET. 

No, I had not seen any one else then., except my 
sister. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

My poor child ! {After a struggle with herself.) 
Still this is madness. What will people think ? Will 
they believe that you broke it off? Such good pros- 
pects ! It is but fair to give you warning. You are 
young and romantic. You have no mother to advise 
you. {Firmly.) It is but fair to give you warning. 



132 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

JULIET. 

Oh, I know that Sir William is rich. I know that 
he could give me everything that money can buy ! But 
/ am thinking of the things that money cannot buy ! — 
my ideals — my dreams! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Ideals ! — dreams ! Good heavens ! {In a tone of 
self-mockery.^ 

JULIET. 

Yes — the ideals that men and women have died 
for, for which they have been burnt — tortured — 
martyred. Are they nothing in the world ? Shall I 
give up these treasures ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, when one is young, one is full of these 
enthusiasms. 

JULIET. 

Have you none yourself? Don't you ever feel 
there is something lacking in these big parties ? Do 
you never get tired of these smart friends ? — friends 
who would tear your soul to ribbons if it would make 
a lunch more lively ! Do you always like these brutal 
jokes — this hateful scramble to go one better and be, 
at any cost, amused ? It 's horrid, it is contemptible ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 133 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

My dear child, do you find me contemptible \ 

JULIET. 

No ; unhappy ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {laughing uneostly). 
Me, unhappy ! What a notion ! 

JULIET. 

You are, you must be, {Touching her arm.) You 
are too good, too gentle, to be contented with such a 
stifling life. You must long for the free, fresh air, to 
watch the sky, to hear a little of the music of the 
woods and fields. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Woods and fields. . . . {Stares blankly into space.) 

JULIET. 

Don't you want one human heart at least on which 
you can always depend ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I have my boy. I ask for no more. I have Vivian. 
He is my best. 



134 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

JULIET {sorrowfully). 
Oh, yes, I know how dearly you love him. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Dearly is not the word. It is idolatry. Sometimes 
I fear it is wrong. But he is mine, and when all the 
worldly maxims are said, when all is done, the love 
between mother and child is real ; children do not care 
whether one is looking one's best or one's worst ; 
whether one is young, old, pretty, or plain. Vivian is 
all I have — all ! 

JULIET, 

I know ... I know. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {with feeling). 
And all I want. 

JULIET {a little surprised). 
Yes. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {looking at her). 

Oh, Juliet, what an enigma ! what a contradiction ! 
{Takes her hand in hers.) I was beginning to care for 
you, I was beginning to understand you. I had no 
daughter of my own. Oh, Juliet, what an enigma ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 135 

JULIET (standing). 
Oh, no, it is all simple enough, if'xt could be all told. 
But it cannot be told. One may stop wondering about 
it, and, if possible, forget it. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {standing). 
Juliet, I won't wonder about you. I won't ask 
you any questions. {Holds out both her hands.) But, 
will you come back with me ? 

JULIET. 

Oh, why are people always kind to each other — 
too late ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Don't say that, dear Juliet. No one, not even 
Bill, shall ever hear of this . . . escapade : but, come 
back again with me. To-morrow we can part, per- 
haps not to meet again, but let us part friends. Will 
you come ? {Moves a little towards her.) 

JULIET {looking at her). 
You are very good. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Don't hesitate, my dear child, come. {Goes up to 
her and takes her hand.) I feel, I know . . . something 



136 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

tells me that . . . [hisses her) . . . that perhaps we 
shall never really like each other: we are so different. 
But I trust you, I do trust you. I don't know why, 
but I do. (Puts her arm round her.) 

JULIET {after a moments pause). 

Yes, I will come . . . till to-morrow. 

( They go out in silence^ each wondering at the other ^ with- 
out heeding Lascelles.) 

LASCELLES {looking after them). 

I shall never, no, never understand good women. I 
suppose they will go back to the ball, and smile at 
each other like angels of light till — they part for ever 
by the first possible train on the morrow. 
{He goes up to door L., opens it, and calls St. Orbyn, 
who enters rather grave, hut otherwise inscrutable ; says 
nothing, but picks up newspaper and sits down to it.) 

LASCELLES. 

Here is a fine scandal, and the worst of it is — I 
hope you won't mind — but Miss Gainsborough has 
made me promise not to give you the smallest explana- 
tion of her visit here. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 137 

ST. ORBYN {springing to his feet ^ radiant). 
Ah, 1 knew it ! Dear, innocent little creature. I 
knew it, I knew it all along! 

LASCELLES {astonished). 
Knew what ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

My dear fellow, if she had not been innocent, she 
would have insisted on nothing but explanations for 
the rest of your life and mine ! . . . Good-night ! 

{^Advances to door.) 

LASCELLES. 

What ! Are you going ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Going ! I should think so. I am going after her. 
{^Goes to door., hut comes hack again.) Are the lights still 
burning over the way ? 

LASCELLES {going to window and opening it). 
Yes. The ball is in full swing. Can't you hear 
" The Jewel of Asia " ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Thank Heaven! {Goes out and comes hack^ Lascelles! 

LASCELLES. 

What ? 



138 THE AMBASSADOR [Act III 

ST. ORBYN. 

Is n't she a dream ? {Disappears.^ 

LASCELLES. 

What is happening to the world ! One would think 
you were a boy out of school ! 

ST. ORBYN {^coming hack). 
I will tell you all about it to-morrow. {Going.) 

LASCELLES. 

You will be late if you don't hurry. 

ST. ORBYN {opening door). 
Not I ! {Starts back.) Good Heavens ! No wonder 
I could not cross the threshold. {Stoops and picks up 
something.') 

LASCELLES. 

What is the matter ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

A rosette from her shoe ! The darling rosette from 
her precious shoe ! {Kisses it^ then to Lascelles.) You 
dull, moping dog, jealous. . . . 

{Loud laughter from hilliard-room.^ and all the guests rush 
in^ followed by Mrs. Taylorson.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 139 

YOLANDE. 

Your Excellency must not leave us ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

(Thrusting hand with rosette into breast^ and bowing low.) 
I go, dear lady, because I dare not stay. 

YOLANDE. 

But the fun . . . the fun is just beginning! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Dear lady, no doubt ! But I seek the nightingale, 
and not the lark ! (Kisses his hand and goes out., leaving 
the guests daficing.) 



End of Third Act 



THE FOURTH ACT 

Scene : The garden outside draiving-room at Lady Beau- 
vedere's. // is planted in the Italian style ivith parterres, 
granjel ivalks, statuary, and a fenju acacia-trees. The daivn 
is just appearing in the sky, and a fenxj stars are still to be 
seen. Lights are nvithin the house, and the garden is mod- 
erately illuminated. The hour is 4 a.m. As the curtain 
rises Vivian is ivatching at the garden gate in great anxiety. 
He looks at his nxiatch. 

VIVIAN. 

Will she never come ? What has happened ? How^ 
late it is ! She vi^ill be missed to a dead certainty. . . . 
She will be missed. 

(y// this moment Gw^endolene and Sir William ap- 
pear on the wide step with balcony rail which leads 
from the conservatory into the garden. Vivian retires 
into the house unobserved.^ 

GWENDOLENE. 

How^ sweet it is out here ! 

sir WILLIAM. 

Yes, and I hope not damp. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 141 

GWENDOLENE. 

I hope, as you say, not damp. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Gwen, why do you no longer wear the brooch I 
gave you ? 

GWENDOLENE (hanging her head). 

I thought I needed ... no further reminder of our 
... of our friendship. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Don't say that ! We must always be friends, 
Gwen. 

GWENDOLENS. 

In time we may be, but, just now ... it is too hard. 

SIR WILLIAM. 

You are awfully fond of me, are n't you, Gwen ? 

GWENDOLENE. 

Is this right, Bill — is this kind? 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Would I ask it if I entertained the smallest doubt 
as to its propriety ? 



142 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

GWENDOLENE. 

I ... I suppose not. 

(Sir William leads Gwendolene to seat and then 
stands by her.^ 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Gwen, Juliet has given me back my freedom. I 
ha'Rfe been free without knowing it for very nearly 
five days. I could not in the circumstances ask 
her to reconsider the matter. She never loved me . . . 
at least as you do ! 

GWENDOLENE. 

Oh, Bill ! 

SIR WILLIAM {seating himself by her\ 

Gwen, perhaps in two ... or three . . . possibly 
four years' time we may marry, you and I, and gather 
a circle of the very nicest people round us, and exer- 
cise the best influence upon Society. 

GWENDOLENE. 

What happiness, dearest Bill ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

It ought to be ... I think it will be. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 143 

GWENDOLENE. 

And shall we go to Italy for our honeymoon ? 

SIR WILLIAM. 

Most probably. One soon gets tired of a place that 
is merely climate ! One wants something to look at 
... to keep one interested, and all that . . . {Feeling 
the arm of the seat.) Is the dew falling ? [Rises.) 

GWENDOLENE {rises). 

Won't you kiss me, Bill ? 

SIR WILLIAM {approaching her). 

I thought I did. {Kisses her cheek and walks up c, 
leaving her.) 

GWENDOLENE {after a pause). 

Yes, it does seem rather chilly. Shall we go in ? 

SIR WILLIAM. 

You know we are such friends, dear Gwen, that 
you would not expect raptures., would you ? 

GWENDOLENE. 

No . . . no . . . not exactly raptures ! 



144 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

SIR WILLIAM. 

It is much more sensible, really, not to want you 
to catch cold. 

GWENDOLENE. 

(JValks up to him and looks into his face. ^ 

It must have been on such a night as this when 
Romeo climbed the wall of Juliet's garden. Oh, 
Bill, you do like me a little, don't you ? People seem 
to think we are such icebergs ! 

SIR WILLIAM. 

That's because people are fools. (IVith sudden and 
genuine feelings eynhracing her.) I am simply awfully 
fond of you. {Kisses her.) There, will that satisfy 
you ? 

GWENDOLENE. 



Oh, quite 

Shall we g 
(JThey go in. Vivian comes out again from the shadow.) 



SIR WILLIAM. 

Shall we eo in ? 



VIVIAN. 



Will she never come ? I hope there has been no 
mistake. Lascelles has just opened his window. . . . 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 145 

I believe he is there. What on earth has happened ? 
. . . {Rattle of key heard in the door.) At last ! {He 
rushes forward as door is opened and Lady Beauve- 
DERE enters followed by Juliet. Vivian falls back in 
astonishment. To Lady Beauvedere.) You! 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Smiling with a strong effort.) 

Did I startle you, darling ? Juliet and I have just 
been out for a little air. It seems so very close this 
evening. Surely we have not been long ? 

VIVIAN {stammering). 
I . . . I . . . don't know ... I should say . . . no. 



Why 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Handing him her scarf.) 

Put my scarf over there. I don't need it. {He 
takes scarf and places it on seat L. JVhile he crosses the 
stage Lady Beauvedere addresses Juliet.) For your 
own sake, say nothing. I will not betray you. You 
may trust me. I have given you my word. 
(Juliet 7iierely inclines her head. Enter Sir Charles 
De Lorme from house.) 



146 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

SIR CHARLES. 

Ah, Lady Beauvedere, I have been seeking you. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

How wrong of me ! I stole out into the garden. 
These April nights are so delicious ! 

SIR CHARLES. 

Alas! I have not got an April chest! I cannot 
take these enjoyments. But, they are forming a co- 
tillon : I believe they wait for us. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Then let us go at once. 

(T'hey go into house. ^ 

VIVIAN. 

(^Comes up to Juliet when his mother has gone. Juliet 
is standing motionless., looking on the ground.^ 
Is it all right ? 

JULIET. 

(r. C. Sitting down ; mechanically.) 
Yes ... all right. . . . He gave it me. 

VIVIAN. 

What, the cheque ? (Juliet merely boius her head.) 
Thank God ! Oh, Juliet, I have been mad. I 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 147 

have been half dead with anxiety. Why were you 
so long ? 

JULIET. 

Yes ... it must have seemed ... a long vv^hile. 

VIVIAN. 

Was he disagreeable ? 

JULIET. 

Oh no. . . . He was very kind. 

VIVIAN. 

How did you meet my mother? What an escape ! 

JULIET. 

I did n't escape. 

VIVIAN. 

What do you mean ? 

JULIET. 

I didn't escape, Vivian. She must have seen me 
go, or, some one told her. She followed me. 

VIVIAN. 

Where ? 

JULIET. 

Into the house. . . . Into the very room. 



148 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

VIVIAN {horrified). 
Into the very room. . . . Then . . . she knows . . . 

JULIET. 

She knows nothing. 

VIVIAN. 

But what excuse did you make ? 

JULIET. 

None. 

VIVIAN. 

That must have been devilish awkward ! 

JULIET. 

Yes, it was . . . awkward. 

VIVIAN. 

What does she think ? 

JULIET {in tears). 

Don't ask me. I have done all that was possible 
for both of you. Be satisfied. 

VIVIAN. 

Mama is not easily satisfied. She would think, you 
know, all sorts of things. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 149 

JULIET. 

Oh, leave me . . . leave me alone. I cannot tell 
you any more. I have tried to love an enemy . . . 
now let me pay the price, without a regret, do you 
understand, without a single regret. I want to feel 
that I should do it all again, willingly, and that is n't 
easy. Don't ask me any more. 

{Enter Lord Lavensthorpe, a pale^ insipid young man 
with a silly smile.) 

LORD LAVENSTHORPE. 

Really, Miss Gainsborough, I have been looking for 
you everywhere. You promised to go in to supper 
with me. Have you forgotten ? 

JULIET (rising). 

Oh no. I was just hoping you had forgotten (per- 
ceiving her mistake) ... I mean . . . 

LAVENSTHORPE. 

Yes, what did you mean ? 

JULIET, 

Oh, I was afraid that you would get so hungry — 
that 's all. {She goes out on Lavensthorpe's arm.) 



150 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

VIVIAN {clenching his hands). 
Oh, I can't have this. It 's too cowardly. I would 
sooner make a clean breast of the whole thing — I 
can't have a girl suffer all this just because I have been 
such a fool. (Garden door opens.) Who is that ? {He 
retires L.) 

{Enter St. Orbyn, with a quick step, humming a 
lively air.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Hullo! Is that Vivian? 

VIVIAN {coming forward). 
Yes, I . . . I . . . Oh, Lord St. Orbyn, I am so 
beastly miserable. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Why ? What is the matter? Come to the light. 
{Studies his face.) This won't do. Are you in love ? 
Are you jealous ? or, what is a far more serious thing, 
is she jealous ? 

VIVIAN. 

Oh, it 's nothing pleasant like that ! I have got 
Juliet into an awful scrape. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Juliet ! How can this be ? 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 151 

VIVIAN 

She is the most splendid brick of a girl I have ever 
heard of. 

ST. ORBYN. 

What has she done ? 

VIVIAN. 

She went to Lascelles to get me out of a . . . devil 
of a hole. And Mama followed her there, and Juliet 
never explained ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes, yes, but you can explain ! What is it ? Make 
haste! Don't try to talk well — just splutter it 
out anyhow ! When a man has facts he need n't 
be clever. 

VIVIAN. 

Mama, you know, hates Lascelles, and I have been 
playing cards with him . . . and . . . 

ST. ORBYN (smoothly). 
At first you won, and then you lost, and then you 
could not pay your losses with perfect convenience at 
that particular moment ! That's simple enough. {He 
puts his hat on a chair.') And then ? 

VIVIAN. 

I got over-excited. 



152 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN. 

Most natural thing in the world ! 

VIVIAN {eagerly'). 

Yes, you know how it is. I had always heard what 
a frightful disgrace it was not to pay debts of honour, 
and so . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

You adopted certain measures . . . 

VIVIAN. 

Yes . . . but . . . 

ST. ORBYN {kindly). 

Somehow you feel that you can never again be so 
happy as you were before. 

VIVIAN {half in tears). 
It was all that rotten cheque. 

ST, ORBYN. 

Cheque belonging to the family, I suppose ^ 

VIVIAN. 

Ye ... s ... by way of being a family cheque. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 153 

ST. ORBYN. 

And you put ... a sort of family name on the 
back ? 

VIVIAN. 

Yes, but I knew it was not the sort of thing that 
fellows do ... as a rule. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not as a rule ! But it is done. It may be rather 
distinguished and out of the way. One should n't do 
it again. But, what is the rest ? 

VIVIAN. 

Juliet got it for me . . . the cheque, I mean. 
Lascelles gave it to her. Awfully decent of Lascelles. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Where is it now ? 

VIVIAN. 

Here is the beastly thing. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Give it to me. (Vivian does so. St. Orbyn looks 
at it^ tears off the endorsed half., and burns it with a 
match., sitting on seat.) Well, go on. What else hap- 
pened ? 



154 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

VIVIAN. 

Well, of course when Mama came bouncing in 
Juliet could not explain why she was at Lascelles', 
because she would n't give me away ! And so . . . and 
so, poor Juliet is quite misunderstood. Mama is such 
a stickler for etiquette and chaperons, and all that rot ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

What do you propose to do ? 

VIVIAN. 

Oh, I must see Mama and put it all square. I 
can't have a girl suffer on my account. That's play- 
ing very low down. 

ST. ORBYN (rising and moving towards vivian). 
My boy, leave all this to me. Say nothing, and I 
promise you that no harm will come to any one. Let 
me see your mother, and I will make the thing look 
as well ... as such a thing can look ! 

VIVIAN. 

Oh, you are good. 

ST. ORBYN. 

One word. Remember the words of the poet : 
" Oh, Nemesis, let me never crave anything so wildly 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 155 

that I would desire to seize it from its legitimate pos- 
sessor." Recollect this always, and then you will 
find existence most enjoyable. Whenever we meet, 
let us remind each other of this. Go back to your 
dancing . . . and don't be wretched any more. Every- 
body always forgets . . . everything. I usually do 
myself. In fact, it is one of my rules. The only 
one I ever keep. Go back to your dancing. {Crosses 
garden.) 

VIVIAN. 

I say, you are, you know, the most awfully under- 
standing person I 've ever met ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

That will do . . . that 's all right. 

VIVIAN. 

I know what you think of me, you know. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I never think about anybody. I merely look at 
'em and make up my mind. 

VIVIAN. 

Well, don't make up your mind about me just yet. 



156 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, we '11 put it this way — I have n't changed 
my mind about you. 

VIVIAN. 

Thanks ! (^Seizes his hand.) I shall find Juliet, 
and tell her you know everything — that you are 
simply the most splendid friend. . . . (^Goes out with a 
smothered sob^ blowing his nose violently.) 

ST. ORBYN (taking the rosette from his pocket and kissing it). 

A plus b plus X minus x. What is to be done — 
what is to be done with that odious minus x ? 

(Lady Beauvedere appears on the steps and mov- 
ing L., calls.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Is Juliet there ? Is Bill there ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Ah, my dear Geraldine, do come out. This is en- 
chanting. Byron was quite wrong when he said that 
the early dawn did not suit women. I have never 
seen you looking better. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I am not well. (^She comes down the steps.) I am 
dreadfully tired. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 157 

ST. ORBYN. 

Come, put this round you {takes up scarf Vivian 
left on seat)^ and sit down here with me. {She sits 
down.) But, before we begin to talk nicely, and 
before I forget it, do you see this ? (Holds up half 
of the cheque.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Good gracious ! {'Taking cheque.) Where did you 
find that ? 

ST, ORBYN. 

In the oddest way. You remember the day I 
wrote, against my judgment, at your desk ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Perfectly ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, among other strange possibilities, that may 
have been caught up among my papers ! At any 
rate, there it is, and I have not the smallest doubt 
that I have destroyed the other half! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

How amusing ! I did miss it, as a matter of fact, 
and I was a little anxious. . . . Such an awkward 
thing to speak about ! 



158 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN. 

And now, what a charming ball this has been ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I am glad you think so. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I have never enjoyed myself so much before. But, 
wait, I knew there was something else. {Walks to r. 
of seat.) I have a little message for you from Vivian. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {frightened). 
Vivian ! What can it be ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

My dear Geraldine, a trifle to us, but to these chil- 
dren a great affair. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, Bertie, he does not want to marry anybody, 
does he ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Gently, gently. You are still a girl in your emo- 
tions. You are always in a nervous flutter about 
some one marrying or not marrying. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 159 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

But SO many trying things have happened this even- 
ing, I am quite unstrung. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, listen to me and I may account for some of 
these mysteries. It seems there has been a little mis- 
understanding between Vivian and Lascelles. You 
know the sort of heady, absurd . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes, yes. Dear Vivian is so impulsive. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Precisely. He is too impulsive. Without going into 
the merits of the case . . . {watching her closely) . . . 
it might have led, managed, to a duel ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, heavens ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

The matter came to Miss Gainsborough's ears. 
Her first thought was, naturally, for you : she offered 
to intercede, to make peace. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Noble-hearted girl ! 



i6o THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 



ST. ORBYN. 



She went to Lascelles. She pleaded her cause, 
effected a reconciliation, was about to return with her 
good news to Vivian, when . . . perhaps you know 
the rest. . . . 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, how wrong I have been, how unjust ! [Rises.) 
But I trusted her, I told her so, I did, really. And she 
did it all to save me ! Oh, Bertie, where is she ? Let 
me thank her on my knees. (Looking vaguely round.") 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes; she is worth it. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

And now, just as I was beginning to appreciate her, 
and understand her, and love her : it is all too late . . . 
too late. What a world it is ! I am so vexed, so 
dreadfully vexed. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Vexed ? Why ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

She has broken off her engagement with Bill. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR i6i 

ST. ORBYN. 

(Controlling his astonishment^ rises, walks L. a little, then 
speaks.^ 

But, you know, I rather expected that ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

She wrote to him, it seems, the very day we were 
all saying horrid things about her. (Rises and crosses 
to him.) Dear Bertie, you are so clever. Let us do 
our utmost to bring these two together again. 

ST, ORBYN. 

Bring them together again ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Yes, it may be a mere lover's tifF. Make peace be- 
tween them. You manage these things so wonderfully. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Geraldine, I will be frank with you. I cannot dis- 
semble, as you know. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I do indeed. I always feel I can read you like a 
book ! 



i62 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN ((7 little sorry for her). 

Y ... e ... s ... of course ! But, to be hon- 
est, I would do anything to further your happiness, 
yet, in this instance, I must think of my own. 

(Lady Beauvedere reseats herself.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

The fact is, there is an obstacle, — an unsurmount- 
able obstacle. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

What is that, pray ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

There 's another man. {Sits by her side.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{jIs though a sudden suspicion had struck her.) 
Oh, surely not. 

ST. ORBYN. 

There is. I can deal with any other fellow, but 
this particular one is the plague of my life. The 
trouble he has given me from time to time is past be- 
lief. {Sits on her R.) Yet I have a sort of liking for 
him too ! I feel bound to say he would make Juliet 
the best of husbands ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 163 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

{Still Struggling xvith suspicion.) 
Who is the person ? I don't know him. 

ST, ORBYN. 

Yes, you do, Geraldine. I may know him better, 
perhaps, but you know him well enough. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You say he is in love with Juliet ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

He is crazy about her, absolutely crazy. And the 
man who thinks of a wife, you know, is a very strict 
observer. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You cannot mean . . . {The birds begin to twitter.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes, I do, Geraldine. {Rises.) I don't sleep, I don't 
eat, I can't think, my ears ring, my heart dances. I 
was never so ill, so ridiculous, or so utterly happy in 
all my life ! When I met her . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Do you mean Juliet ? 



i64 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yes, when I first met her here, ten days ago, I 
was just verging on that mood when life seems to 
have shown one all its prizes — and none of them 
appear worth while. Do you know that state of 
mind ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {sighing). 

Oh yes. 

ST. ORBYN. 

Love is the only thing, Geraldine! When I say 
love, I don't mean all this nonsense about sighing and 
dying, wild kisses, sobs and throbs! I mean affec- 
tion, devotion, a deep, unwavering trust, I mean . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (rising and crossing to him). 
You mean in fact what every bachelor means when 
he grows weary of flirtation, and wants to marry some 
pretty young woman who knows nothing about him. 
Men, I believe, to be truly happy must have, at 
least, one simple heart, which they can always im- 
pose upon. This process they call trust and sympathy ! 
Sir, you are all born impostors ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

It is because you have these views of us that I 
have never had the smallest wish to deceive you ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 165 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

To think that you love JuHet ! . . . Oh, how do 
these things happen ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, say it 's a fine day in spring. You suggest 
a walk. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Alone ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Of course not. . . . Say she's pretty — say that 
you find yourself wishing that she would look you 
straight in the eyes again. . . . 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (/« a low Voice). 

Say she does. . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Then you find yourself wishing she hadn't? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

But why ? 

ST. ORBYN. 



Because it 's dangerous. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I don't understand. 



1 66 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

ST. ORBYN. 

I can't explain. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Was that how you came to love Juliet? 

ST. ORBYN. 

No . . . that 's how I came to love so many others 
in the past. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Then where is the point? 

ST. ORBYN. 

The point is — now that I have met Juliet — it 
shall never happen again ... in the future. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Hear the birds. . . . How happy they must be ! 
Winged creatures — nearer the sky than we are ! 
{Sighs.) 

ST. ORBYN. 

Are n't you happy, Geraldine ? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Not especially ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Yet, you are young, accomplished, beautiful. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 167 



LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Bah ! I 'd rather look old and ugly to some pur- 
pose than be as I am — in vain ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

In vain ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (^passionately). 

Yes ! In vain ! Beauty in some cases is a humilia- 
tion — nothing more. 

ST. ORBYN. 

This from a woman with the world at her feet! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

I prefer a friend for my heart. [Gives him her 
hand.\ 

ST. ORBYN. 

But you have got friends. / am one of 'em ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

You ! What is it to you whether I 'm lovely or 
hideous ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Nothing.' I think only of your soul ! 



i68 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

(^Releasing his hand and looking indignant.^ 
There! I knew it. (Changes her tone to laughter.^ 
How droll ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Sometimes I believe you wish you had n't got a soul ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Oh, I like my soul well enough, but — it never 
seems to belong to me — to be me . . . myself. Now 
my face is me. ... do you understand ? 
(Princess Vendramini appears on step above them.) 

VENDRAMINI. 

Goodbye, dear Lady Beauvedere. I must be going. 

LADY BEAUVEDERE (daZed). 

What ! so early ? 

VENDRAMINI. 

It is four o'clock now, and in a few hours' time I 
leave Paris for Constantinople. {To St. Orbyn.) 
Shall we say, Au revoir? 

ST. ORBYN {kissing her hand). 

Oh, Princess, we always meet too late, and part too 
soon. 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 169 

VENDRAMINI. 

(/« a low voice inaudible to Lady Beauvedere.) 
Oh, Albert, to think you have preferred that little 

girl to me ... to ?ne ! We two together could have 

ruled the destinies of Europe ! 

ST. ORBYN (kissing her hand again). 

Only we did n't want to rule 'em, did we ? Europe 
is becoming such a bore ! 
(Princess Vendramini crosses to Lady Beauvedere. 

Juliet's laughter is heard within. She appears with 

Lavensthorpe. They stand to admire the sunrise. 

Other couples also come out., and scatter behind the 

various bushes.) 

JULIET {to lavensthorpe). 

Isn't it pretty where the light strikes the trees? 
There is just one star left ; do you see ? 

lavensthorpe. 

No. 

JULIET. 

Then come this way. {She comes down and crosses 
stage with Lavensthorpe.) 

(St. Orbyn watches her as if fascinated^ and is about 
to follow.) 



170 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {calling). 

Bertie ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Did you call? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

Will you take Rosamund to her carriage ? 

(St. Orbyn conceals his chagrin^ offers his arm to the 
Princess, and they go out. Lady Beauvedere 
watches them till they are out of sight, then she sits 
down and rests her face on her hand, seeming lost in 
thought.^ 

JULIET. 

Leave me here with Lady Beauvedere. I am 
afraid she is very tired. 

(Lavensthorpe bows and leaves her.) 

JULIET {coming down timidly). 
Are you tired ? {Kneels at her feet.) 

LADY beauvedere {rousing herself). 

Is that you, Juliet ? I can't say much. . . . Lord 
St. Orbyn has told me everything about Vivian . . . 
and . . . you behaved very nobly. I want you to 
. . . forgive me. {Bites her lip.) 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 171 

JULIET. 

Oh, please, never think of that again ! 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 
(Takes her hands ^ looks into her face ^ 
You lucky girl ! 

JULIET {astonished^. 
Why? 

LADY BEAUVEDERE. 

But — he is very fickle. I must say that — very 

fickle. 

JULIET {innocently). 

Do you mean Bill ? 

(St. Orbyn enters.) 

LADY BEAUVEDERE {j>erceiving him). 
Bertie {^crosses to him)^ I was just warning her that a 
man we all know is fickle, and she asks — Do I mean 
Bill .'' (She joins their hands.) Will you tell her who 
I mean ? (^She laughs and goes up steps into house. 
When she is out of their observation^ her face alters. She 
is in misery.) 

(St. Orbyn and Juliet stand hand in hand., awkwardly 
looking at each other. Sun grows brighter as dialogue 
proceeds., the birds sing softly.) 



172 THE AMBASSADOR [Act IV 

JULIET {after a pause). 
But . . . ought n't one to be dancing ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Not yet . . . Oh, Juliet. 

JULIET. 

Yes. 

ST. ORBYN. 

I want to tell you how much — but if I could say 
how much it would be little — I love you ! 

JULIET. 

Why? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Because you are pretty . . . and yet that 's not the 
reason. 

JULIET. 

What, then ? 

ST. ORBYN. 

Because you are honest . . . that 's not the reason 
either. 

JULIET. 

Well, guess again ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Because . . . Oh, Juliet, it is because you make me 
forget the reasons why ! 



Scene i] THE AMBASSADOR 173 

JULIET. 

Then remember the reasons why not. I am poor . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

So are the angels. 

JULIET. 

And then . . . 

ST. ORBYN. 

Well, dearest ? 

JULIET. 

. . . You make me forget the reasons why not ! 

ST. ORBYN. 

Juliet ! {He moves to embrace her.) 

(Jt this moment music is heard within : last valse begin- 
ning. Couples emerge from behind every bush^ and out 
of every corner^ 

ST. ORBYN. 

Are n't we alone ? {Looking round?) 

JULIET {nervously). 
Ought n't one to be dancing ? 

End OF THE Play 



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